Bashagha denies UN claim of armed entrance to Tripoli

Prime Minister Fathi Bashagha on Friday denied a U.N. claim that he made an armed entrance Tripoli on May 17.

Rosemary A. DiCarlo, the U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, made claim during a speech before the U,N. Security Council on Thursday.

“In the early hours of 17 May, Mr. Bashagha entered Tripoli, backed by armed groups,” DiCarlo told state members.

However, Bashagha described DiCarlo’s characterization as a “misleading and incorrect statement”.

“She falsely claimed that I entered Tripoli with armed convoys, which is not true,” he said via Twitter on Friday.

“The United Nations must correct this error, in order to preserve its role of promoting peace and to maintain complete impartiality,” he said. “I affirm my commitment to follow the path of peace and elections in Libya and to renounce all forms of violence.”

In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Bashagha claimed he entered Tripoli in a civilian car on May 17 and that those escorting him were unarmed.

He said Abdel-Ghani al-Kikli, a militia leader loyal to Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, was part of the effort to attack him after he entered Tripoli. Al-Kikli was previously implicated in war crimes by global rights groups, but has headed a nebulous body called the Stability Support Authority that reports to the Tripoli government since 2021.