By Libya Herald reporter.
Benghazi, 9 April 2017:
The acting “mayor” of Benghazi, Brigadier Ahmed Al-Oraibi, has resigned. The move follows more than a month of speculation that he was about to be replaced. He has been replaced by Abdul Rahman Elabbar.
In a statement today announcing the resignation, he said that the constant rumours had made his position untenable; they had become an obstacle to the work he and his colleague were doing for the city.
Thanking all who had supported him, including the House of Representatives and the Field Marshal Khalifa Hafter, he said that for the moment there was now no one in charge of the city. As for himself, he wanted to concentrate full time of the job he was doing in tandem with running Benghazi, that of deputy head of intelligence in eastern Libya.
In August last year, Major-General Abdul Razzaq Al-Nazhuri, in his capacity as military governor from Ben Jawad to Derna, dismissed Benghazi municipal council and appointed a military council headed by Oraibi to administer the city on the army’s behalf. Since then, Nazhuri has replaced a raft of democratically-elected municipal councils with military officials.
Oraibi had been seen as more effective than his elected predecessor, Omar Barasi, who was heavily criticised for his weakness and incompetence. It was this that helped Nazhuri remove him.
Although, Oraibi said that no one was in charge, Nazhuri quickly responded by appointing local Benghazino Abdul Rahman Elabbar as the new acting mayor. He had been touted as Oraibi’s replacement for the past couple of weeks.
