Nearly 2,000 demonstrators have gathered in the Libyan capital in support of a Switzerland-based Libyan businessman who had called for a rally to reject the leadership of both main sides in the divided country.

The Libyan former candidate for the Prime Minister position and businessman who lives in Switzerland, Basit Igtet, has arrived this morning in Tripoli’s Mitiga Airport.

There is rising tension in Tripoli tonight as the Presidency Council (PC) declared a state of emergency and banned a planned Martyrs’ Square rally tomorrow in support of entrepreneur and would-be presidential candidate Baset Igtet.

As part of its efforts to promote national reconciliation among the Libyans, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) organized a two-day meeting in Tunis on 20 and 21 September, between delegations from Zintan and Tripoli, in order to facilitate a safe …

UN troops will be guarding UNSMIL’s premises in Tripoli but the organisation has insisted that their duties will involve purely security.

The UNSMIL’s spokesperson, Sawsan Ghousha, confirmed on Sunday that a security unit will be sent to Libya in order to secure the UNSMIL headquarters in the Libyan capital before arrival of the staff in full to the country.

The Special Deterrence Force (SDF) has arrested Sheikh Abdul-Razzaq Emshirib on Sunday night, eyewitnesses reported, adding that at least five military vehicles surrounded Emshirib’s house before snatching him from inside.

The UNSMIL’s Head Ghassan Salame, has denied the news reports that said the UN will send 250 peacekeepers to the Libyan capital Tripoli. “All rumors and misinterpretation of the statement given to La Stampa about the peacekeeping mission are untrue.” The UNSMIL’s Head clarified.

Algeria plans to reopen its embassy in Tripoli, its foreign minister, Abdelkader Messahel, has told Algerian parliamentarians. “Algeria will be in Tripoli soon,” he said, responding to a question in parliament on the subject.

Gunfire is a regular enough event in Tripoli for it not to panic anyone – unless it happens to be just where you are. And today, one of Libya Herald’s reporters in Tripoli happened to be where it was.