TRIPOLI — A key state body in Libya accused
the government of Prime Minister
Abdulhamid Dbeibah on Monday of preventing it
from meeting, reviving political tensions in a country that has seen a decade
of violence.
اضافة اعلان
The High Council of State’s accusations came after
armored vehicles from an armed group commanded by Dbeibah’s administration
surrounded a major hotel in the capital Tripoli, preventing council members
from entering, according to images broadcast by local media.
The council’s head, Khaled Al-Mishri, said in a
video statement on Facebook that the body had been due to vote on a
constitutional basis for elections.
Polls had been set for December 2021 to elect a
replacement for Dbeibah’s government but were indefinitely postponed.
Mishri said the hotel had cancelled the reservation
of a conference room, citing “government instructions”.
He added that “no (other) hotel has agreed to rent
us” a conference hall.
The meeting was also set to discuss “the unification
of executive power”, implying that it would cover the fate of Dbeibah’s
government.
Libya has been plagued by violence since the fall of
Muammar Gadhafi’s regime in 2011.
Mishri said Monday’s move was “the first time since
the February 17 revolution (of 2011) that a head of government has tried to
prevent a sovereign institution from doing its work”.
Dbeibah was appointed as part of a UN-guided peace
process following the last major battle in Libya in 2020, but the eastern-based
parliament and military strongman Khalifa Haftar say his mandate has expired.
In March, parliament appointed a new government to
take his place, but the rival administration has failed to install itself in
Tripoli.
In a statement
later on Monday, the US embassy urged Libyan leaders to “resolve their
political differences through dialogue and compromise” and to deliver
“credible, transparent, and inclusive elections”.
“The threat of force is destabilizing, undermines
efforts toward national unity, and is not a legitimate or sustainable way to
resolve political differences,” the embassy wrote on Twitter.
Mishri has lodged an official complaint with the
country’s chief prosecutor, according to the council’s Facebook page, which
posted a picture of him delivering the complaint by hand.
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