The Minister of Health in the Fathi Bashagha government, Othman Abdaljalil, has been appointed as the government’s spokesperson, the Bashagha Media Department reported.
Fathi Bashagha had been appointed Prime Minister by the House of Representatives but the incumbent Caretaker Prime Minister since March 2021, Abd Alhamid Aldabaiba, does not recognize the appointment and has refused to give up office in Tripoli.
Bashagha has failed to enter Tripoli but has nevertheless insisted that he will enter the capital and receive power ‘‘through the power of the law and not through the law of force’’.
Aldababiba has meanwhile cut off Tripoli flights to and from eastern Libya in an effort to prevent Bashagha and his government from entering the capital.
Williams call again for flight resumption with eastern Libya
Yesterday, Stephanie Williams, Special Advisor to the UN Secretary General, renewed her call on the Aldabaiba government to resume flights with eastern Libya. Flights have now been suspended for 14 days.
Guterres concerned about political polarisation
For his part, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, expressed in a phone call yesterday to Fathi Bashagha, his “deep concern about the ongoing political polarization in Libya, which poses significant risks to Libya’s hard-won stability”.
The international community, including the UN, has been mediating in an attempt to find a peaceful solution that will not return Libya to war and two parallel governments and institutions.
