TRIPOLI, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Protesters stormed headquarters of Libya's constitution drafting authority on Saturday, after it unanimously introduced a constitution draft, said authority spokesman.
"The authority met today with a quorum of 43 members to vote on a draft constitution after amendments made by members. A draft was approved by 42 members out of 60." Siddiq Dersi, spokesman of the authority told Xinhua.
Dersi said that after the meeting, dozens of protesters surrounded the headquarters of the authority, in protest against the voting process.
He stressed that there are tribal and social efforts made to contain the situation and facilitate the safe exit of members from the headquarters.
A member of the authority confirmed that many were "trapped inside the authority's building."
"Some protesters are armed and they threatened some members. They accused them of being traitors, and said that the draft served interests of other countries and ignored rights of eastern Libyans," said the member, who did not reveal his name.
The head of the eastern-based parliament, Agila Saleh, called for a parliament session to assess the performance of the constitution drafting authority.
Saleh stressed the need to amend the constitutional declaration to form a committee of specialists to draft a constitution, in view of the "failure of the constitution authority to produce a draft."
Libya has been struggling to make a democratic transition following the 2011 uprising that toppled former leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime.
