Tripoli, 28 August:
Interior Minister Fawzi Abdelal has announced he is withdrawing his resignation, which he submitted on Sunday following criticism of . . .[restrict]his handling of recent violence in Libya.
“When I submitted my resignation, I thought I would be relieving many people. But it seems that my resignation will further complicate security and I have decided to withdraw it,” Abdelal told a news conference in Tripoli.
Libya has been hit by a spate of violence over the past 10 days, including a Triple car bombing in Tripoli, which killed two people, and clashes in Zliten that left at least three dead.
Most seriously for the Interior Ministry, it appeared to lose control of the Supreme Security Committee during last week’s attacks on Sufi shrines in Tripoli, Zliten and Misrata. The SSC failed to prevent the total destruction of the Al-Sha’ab shrine in Tripoli over a period of two days, in spite of demands from inside both the government and the Congress for it to do so.
There were also allegations that the Interior Ministry had authorised the attacks, although this has been denied.
“I withdraw my resignation and I am ready to continue my mission,” he added. Abdelal also criticised what he described as a “ferocious media war” waged against him.
On Sunday an aide told AFP that Abdelal quit “to protest against congressmen criticising the government and to defend the revolutionaries”. [/restrict]
