Libya’s UN-backed government says female lawmaker abducted

CAIRO – Libya’s U.N.-backed government has accused forces loyal to a military commander battling to capture Tripoli of abducting a female lawmaker known for her critical views of his military operations.

The Tripoli-based government, which is at odds with commander Khalifa Hifter and the rival, east-based administration, says it’s worried about lawmaker Seham Sirqiwa’s fate.

She reportedly disappeared Wednesday from her house in the eastern city of Benghazi, the stronghold of Hifter’s self-styled Libyan National Army. Sirqiwa is a lawmaker in the east-based Parliament.

Libya is been split between rival authorities in the country’s east and west, with each side backed by various militias and groups.

The Tripoli government says Sirqiwa’s disappearance is the result of a “state of lawlessness and lack of liberties in areas controlled by” Hifter and his aides.