Libya says halts tanker outside rebel port; rebels deny it

Libya's Prime Minister Ali Zeidan speaks during an interview with Reuters in Tripoli March 10, 2014. REUTERS/Ismail Zitouny

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya on Monday stopped a North Korean-flagged tanker that had loaded oil from a rebel-held port, after naval forces briefly exchanged fire with the rebels, officials said.

But in a sign of the chaos and conflicting information typical for Libya, rebel leader Ibrahim Jathran denied in a televised statement broadcast from a ship that he had lost control of the oil tanker.