Libyan prime minister cancelled visit to Benghazi over local militia blockade
The Libyan government on Sunday night announced the postponement of a council of ministers originally scheduled for Monday in Benghazi, which was also to mark the prime minister's first visit to the east of the country in search of stability after a decade of chaos. "The office of the head of the National Unity Government announces the postponement of the Council of Ministers meeting scheduled for Monday in Benghazi," government spokesman Mohamad Hamouda said in a statement. "Preparations are underway to set a next date," he added, without giving reasons for the postponement.
The announcement comes hours after the security team preparing for the visit of Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeiba and members of his government were turned back on landing at Benghazi airport by local authorities, forcing them to re-board the plane and return to the capital, Tripoli, AFP learned from a security source in the east. Abdelhamid Dbeiba had earlier signalled his intention to hold councils of ministers in different cities, including Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city and a stronghold of eastern strongman Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
Libya is trying to emerge from a decade of conflict since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi's regime, marked in recent years by rival powers in the west and east of the country and bloody violence. A new unified executive, born out of a UN-sponsored process initiated in November in Tunis, was launched in February in Geneva, ahead of a "historic" vote of confidence by parliament in March. It is charged with unifying the country's institutions until national elections in December. Sunday's incident confirms the persistence of divisions between east and west, despite the political upswing of recent months.
The crisis in Libya originated in 2011, when a series of protests and a NATO-backed intervention ended the 42-year rule of the Gaddafi regime. However, the situation worsened in 2014 when Marshal Haftar, then leader of the parallel government established in the western Libyan town of Tobruk and seat of parliament, with the backing of Russia and the United Arab Emirates, decided to advance west to take Tripoli, the country's capital.
Dbeiba was selected earlier this year through a UN-backed inter-Libyan dialogue to lead the country until national elections in December 2021. Dbeiba's government replaced two rival administrations based in Tripoli and in the east of the country, the latter loyal to Haftar, whose forces tried but failed to seize the capital in an offensive in 2019-20. Rival authorities have given their backing to the new administration, adding to tentative hopes that Libya can emerge from a decade of crisis.
Negotiations for a solution to the political crisis in Libya began in October when the warring parties agreed to a ceasefire. Abdelhamid Dbeiba had earlier signalled his intention to hold councils of ministers in different cities in order to increase the government's legitimacy throughout the country. Libya is trying to emerge from an intrinsic crisis marked by the existence in recent years of rival powers, in the west and east of the country, and by bloody violence.
Among the challenges facing the new government is the withdrawal of foreign mercenaries. On the other hand, it must ensure the opening of the main land and coastal routes, which were obstructed during the civil war.
Tripoli is home to the internationally recognised authority, the Government of National Accord. The fighting between the two sides has plunged Libya into a deep economic and political crisis and turned the country into a hostile territory of constant clashes between rival militias.