Libyan men loyal to rogue general Khalifa Haftar
Libya's new parliament, elected on June 25, held its first session in the eastern city of Tobruk, today, amid an ongoing split between Islamists and nationalists, television pictures showed.
A rival ceremony in the capital Tripoli planned by Islamist politicians failed to start at the scheduled time.
Anti-Islamist lawmakers insisted on meeting in Tobruk, 1,500 kilometres (1,000 miles) from Tripoli, because of an Islamist offensive in the capital, begun on July 13.
After a formal opening ceremony, the lawmakers were due to be sworn in during the afternoon before electing a speaker, said MP Abu Bakr Biira, who is chairing the session.
Islamist lawmakers and their allies from the western city of Misrata boycotted the Tobruk ceremony as "anti-constitutional", saying that Nuri Abu Sahmein, president of the outgoing General National Congress (GNC), should be the one calling the meeting of the new assembly.
Islamists dominated the interim congress, chosen in the wake of the 2011 revolt which toppled longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi.
Abu Sahmein invited MPs to Tripoli for a parallel "handover of power" on Monday. Scheduled to start at 11 am (0900 GMT), it was yet to get underway by early afternoon.
Analysts said the Tobruk meeting gained legitimacy from the presence of representatives of the Arab League, the United Nations mission in Libya and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
MPs said more than 160 of the 188 elected members travelled over the weekend to Tobruk, spared so far by the violence.
The figure, which could not be confirmed independently, would demonstrate a crushing victory by the nationalists over their Islamist rivals in the elections, when candidates stood as individuals.
On the ground, fighting between rival militias was still rife on Monday in the south and west of Tripoli, the scene of deadly clashes for the past three weeks.
Analysts believe the Islamists are trying to make up for their poor electoral performance by gaining influence through military might.