TRIPOLI: Libya’s internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) has restored the interior minister to his post. Fathi Bashagha ahd been suspended last week following protests against corruption and poor living conditions.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, the GNA said Prime Minister Fayez Al Sarraj had “lifted the temporary suspension” of Bashagha, who would return to his role the same day.Bashagha also said in a statement posted online that he had been reinstated after a five-hour hearing about the demonstrations and the role of the security forces.
The minister had demanded a public hearing “to expose the facts”.
Demonstrations
Bashagha’s return to office comes after hundreds of Libyans late last month staged several days of demonstrations in the capital and elsewhere in western Libya. Among a string of incidents, protesters came under attack by gunmen firing live rounds, leaving several people wounded.
Bashagha said last week that armed men also kidnapped demonstrators, “sowing panic among the population and threatening security and public order”. He promised to “protect unarmed civilians from the brutality of a gang of thugs”.
Bashagha, who was visiting the GNA’s main ally Turkey when he was suspended, was met on his return by his supporters and a convoy of military vehicles from his hometown of Misrata, Libya’s third-largest city and a significant source of military power for the GNA.