By Libya Herald reporter.
Tunis, 26 August 2016:
The much-sacked Libyan ambassador to the UN, Ibrahim Dabbashi, appears to have finally been removed. The UN’s list of permanent representatives, which constitutes the definitive record of who is the envoy for which country, no longer includes him. Instead, it has Elmahdi S. Elmajerbi as the chargé d’affaires of the Libyan mission.
The foreign minister in the Presidency Council’s caretaker Government of National Accord (GNA), Mohamed Taha Siala, has also confirmed that Elmajerbi has taken over, saying that Dabbashi has done four years in the job and claiming that was the legal limit.
Dabbashi has been sacked three times as ambassador, twice by the Thinni administration in Beida and once by the Presidency Council. However, he managed to stay on by ignoring the dismissals – until now.
At the beginning of last month, when the Presidency Council announced it was removing him, it appointed former Prime Minister Abdulrahim Al-Kib as his replacement. He, however, has refused to take the post.
From Sabratha but firmly opposed to Islamists, Dabbashi developed a formidable reputation as a politician not afraid of telling uncomfortable truths. After the Banyan Marsous operation against IS in Sirte started, he questioned the loyalty to the Presidency Council of some of those involved, drawing the fury of a number of Misratan leaders who called for him to be sacked.
Having broken with the Thinni administration at the end of last year and backed the UN-supported Presidency Council instead, he recently started distancing himself from it. Privately, he is said to have concluded that it would fail.
