A spokesman for the forces led by a controversial Libyan general on Sunday that they had seized key oil export terminals in the country's east.

General Khalifa Haftar's forces took control of the Al-Sidra and Ras Lanuf ports, the LANA news agency loyal to the internationally recognised parliament reported Colonel Ahmad Mesmari as saying.

Haftar, one of the most powerful military figures in Libya, has refused to endorse a national unity government and remains loyal to the rival administration based in the east of the country.