Gunmen have attacked Libyan Prime Minister, Abdulhamid Dbeibah’s convoy in the capital, Tripoli, hours before the eastern-based parliament was due to convene to elect a new prime minister, sources say.
The attack took place early on Thursday, February 10, 2022, as the interim leader was returning home, the anonymous source told reporters, calling it an “assassination attempt”. One of the bullets penetrated the windscreen of the prime minister’s car, but he and his driver escaped unhurt.
Libya’s Chief Prosecutor has launched an investigation into the attack and the Prime Minister’s office is yet to release a statement about the incident.
The attack comes amid intense factional wrangling over the control of the government, with Dbeibah, who was named the interim Prime Minister last year and pledging to fight efforts by his opponents to replace him.
Reporting from Tripoli, a reporter, Malik Traina said the timing of the attack “could not be more significant”, referring to Thursday’s (February 10, 2022) scheduled parliamentary session.
Libya has experienced little peace or stability since the NATO-backed uprising against the former leader, Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The country in 2014 split between warring factions in the east and the west.
Prime Minister Dbeibah, was installed as Head of the United Nations-backed Government of National Unity (GNU) in March 2021 and tasked with leading the country to elections on December 24, 2021. He was given the caretaker role on the condition that he does not contest the election, but he declared himself a candidate in November 2021, in a move others deemed unfair.
The election was ultimately cancelled amid disputes between rival factions on laws governing the poll, and the parliament, which mostly backed eastern forces during the country’s war, also declaring the GNU as invalid.
Later on today (Thursday, February 10, 2022) parliament members are scheduled to pick a new interim leader from between two candidates: former Interior Minister, Fathi Bashagha, 59, and outsider Khaled al-Bibass, 51, a former official in the Interior Ministry.
The vote could see a repeat of the 2014 division which saw two parallel governments emerge.
According to Dbeibah earlier this week, he would resist any attempts by the parliament, which is based in the eastern city of Tobruk, to replace his Tripoli-based government.
“I will accept no new transitional phase or parallel authority,” he said, declaring that his government would only hand over power to “an elected government”.
The United Nations (UN), Western powers, and even some members of parliament called Dbeibah to stay in his role until the election. As a result of the happenings, a new date for the vote is yet to be confirmed.
Separately, local reporter, Traina also noted that the apparent assassination attempt on Dbeibah was a “huge setback” for Libya’s credibility to ensure the safety of its officials and foreign delegates.
“This is going to have a long-term effect,” he said, adding that it was hard for senior foreign officials in recent years, to visit the war-hit country without any incident.
“Now, with the security forces not able to ensure even the prime minister safety, people might start second-guessing whether Libya’s security services can protect senior officials.”
Tripoli Reporter, Malik Traina
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