Libya’s powerful interior minister survives assassination attempt

[dukkha]

Libya’s powerful interior minister survived an assassination attempt after his motorcade came under fire outside the capital, sources close to him have told Al Jazeera.

Fathi Bashagha had finished a meeting on Sunday with the chairman of the national oil corporation and was returning to Tripoli, the seat of the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), when his convoy came under attack by unidentified gunmen.

The 58-year-old escaped unharmed, a source said. One of the assailants was killed in the attack while two others were arrested.

Bashagha has in recent months drawn the ire of several armed groups in Tripoli after announcing plans to demobilise militias and reintegrate them into the formal security apparatus.

Libya has been mired in conflict since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising against longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi.

The North African country, a significant oil producer, has been divided between the GNA and a rival administration in the east, both of whom are supported by an array of local and international actors.

Bashagha, who has served as the interior minister of the UN-recognised GNA since October 2018, was seen as a favourite to succeed the last head, Fayez al-Sarraj.

That position finally went to Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, a 61-year-old businessman from Misrata who was elected as prime minister by Libyan delegates from both sides at the UN-brokered peace talks in Geneva last month.

The new interim government is tasked with leading the country through elections, scheduled for December.

Libya has become one of the most intractable conflicts left over from the “Arab spring” a decade ago. In the years that followed Gaddafi’s overthrow, the North African country has descended into devastating chaos and has become a haven for armed groups that survive on looting and human trafficking.

The oil-rich country has for years been split between rival administrations: a UN-recognised government in Tripoli to the west and an eastern-based government backed by renegade commander Khalifa Haftar, head of the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA). Each is backed by foreign governments.

Over the past years, the country has seen devastating bouts of violence. The latest began in April 2019, when Hafter, who is backed by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Russia, launched an offensive seeking to capture Tripoli. His campaign collapsed after Turkey stepped up its military support for the Tripoli administration with hundreds of troops and thousands of Syrian mercenaries.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/...rim-government

[anonymoose]

Why is this not in Libya News and Interests? That’s basically a sub forum here.

[dukkha]

Why is this not in Libya News and Interests? That’s basically a sub forum here.

putting it there as well, I guess I should have expounded for CE.

This interim govt is only supposed to last till December when (yet ANOTHER) vote for a national government
is supposed to happen
But the Bengazi faction led by General Hiftar still has Libyan National Army (LNA) under his control
even after Erdogan's Syrian mercenaries stopped his advance on Tripoli 2 years ago.

Bottom line -what is the chance of new Tripoli government being recognized by Bengazi? none
But there is no other course of action unless Tripoli and Bengazi negotiate face to face.
Neither side wants that yet.

[Legion]

This interim govt is only supposed to last till December when (yet ANOTHER) vote for a national government is supposed to happen
But the Bengazi faction led by General Hiftar still has Libyan National Army (LNA) under his control even after Erdogan's Syrian mercenaries stopped his advance on Tripoli 2 years ago.

Maybe the Obama holdovers infesting the current regime can get him assassinated.