Libyan Defence Minister Mohammed Mahmoud al-Barghati was uninjured Saturday (January 19th) after being caught in a fire fight between his bodyguards and former rebels in Tobruk, AFP reported.

"As the minister prepared to leave the airport by car, his bodyguards traded fire with angry soldiers and ex-rebels, but the minister was not hurt," the minister's deputy, Khaled al-Sherif, said.

Al-Barghati had been meeting with military brass to discuss means of bolstering the armed forces, according to the defence ministry.

In other Libya security news, the local council of Ghadames appealed for help in lifting a siege by an unknown militia group, Libya Herald reported.

The rogue militia is refusing to let people in or out of the border town and threatening to enter the city itself, according to a posting on the council's Facebook page.