Libya’s Prime Minister-designate Fathi Bashagha urged his outgoing rival Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh to peacefully handover power to him amid growing military tensions in Tripoli.
The capital is torn between armed groups loyal to Bashagha, who was selected by the House of Representatives to lead the country as interim premier last February, and groups which support Dbeibeh, who refuses to relinquish power and remains recognized as the country’s leader by the international community.
In a letter addressing Dbeibeh as “former prime minister”, Bashagha called on him to “comply with the decisions of the legislative authority of the Libyan state, which is the same authority that gave you the vote of confidence“.
Bashagha appealed for Dbeibeh to “incline to peace with dignity and honor, and plant in this homeland the seeds of peace and respect”.
He described his letter as an “honest patriotic invitation” which he hopes that Dbeibeh would respond to it with “high sense of patriotism” to put the country’s interests above all else, according to Bashagha.
