Since February, Libya has again been spilt between two opposing cabinets after parliament in the east elected Fathi Bashaga as the new prime minister, while the incumbent Abdulhamid Dbeibah refused to step down.

At the first session of his cabinet in the southern town of Sebha, Mr Bashagha declared that a new era was beginning in Libya after chaos and tyranny.

But there is widespread concern that the country could face new unrest after the UN-sponsored political roadmap was cast into doubt by the failure to hold planned elections in December.