Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has been ousted this afternoon in a confidence vote in parliament, and will be replaced temporarily by the country’s Defence Minister.

The confidence vote took place in the wake of a standoff involving the Tripoli-based Libyan government and rebels in the eastern part of the country, who sparked a crisis when they attempted to load oil onto a tanker that docked in the port city of Sidra without the government’s permission.

The government’s failure to rein in the rebel militias which have effectively carved out their own fiefdoms has long been a source of criticism, and the Sidra incident proved to be the last straw for MPs.

Dr Zeidan had taken office in November 2012, and has visited Malta on two occasions. His government had agreed to sell oil to Malta at preferential rates once production levels in Libya became sufficient – an agreement which is yet to be implemented.