The Tripoli based Libyan government condemned yesterday the assassination attempt on its Minister of State for Prime Minister and Cabinet Affairs, Adel Juma in Tripoli yesterday morning. The Minister was in his car on the Tripoli motorway.
Unconfirmed reports say he had been at Palm City in western Tripoli (Ghiran/Janzour). Reports say his car was subjected to a hail of bullets some of which injured his leg/legs. He was rushed to A&E at Abu Saleem Hospital.
The Tripoli government said he was in good health. He was believed to have undergone some kind of surgery. Social media posts of photographs of him yesterday evening with government figures showed him in a hospital bed looking slightly shaken but relatively well.
In its condemnation statement, the Tripoli government confirmed that the minister’s health condition is stable, and that the security services have begun investigations to track down the perpetrators.
The government stressed that it will not tolerate any attempts that threaten the security and stability of the state.
Who and why?
It is still unclear who carried out the assassination attempts or why. Juma is PM Abdel Hamid Aldabaiba’s Cabinet Secretary. He can, therefore, provide, or deny, access to the PM, and the whole Cabinet. Therefore, a plethora of disgruntled people could have had reason to target him.
Having said that, an armed assassination attempt in broad daylight on a Cabinet Minister could only have been attempted by so many people or groups. This is especially the case since ministers usually move in armour plated cars and with an armed escort.
