Hani Amara / Reuters
The newly elected Libyan House of Representatives held its first session on Saturday, though it was far from the country’s two biggest cities, Tripoli and Benghazi. Those cities have been turned into battlegrounds by armed factions over the past two weeks—on Saturday alone, a fuel depot near the international airport was hit for the second time, sending enormous plumes of dark smoke into the air. The emergency session was held in a heavily guarded hotel in Tobruk, where Western governments hope parliament can create space for negotiations to end the clashes."Our homeland is burning," Abu Bakar Baira, interim head of parliament said. "We have to work fast, to meet the demands of the people and save them from this disaster." Parliament will meet again on Monday to hold its first official session to elect Libya's new president.