Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, the outgoing prime minister of the Government of National Unity, today accused his parliament-appointed rival Fathi Bashagha of “sending repeated messages and threats to ignite war and target civilians”.
This comes few hours after Bashagha released a letter addressed to Dbeibeh, in which he urged the latter to peacefully give up power. Although Bashagha did not explicitly threaten violence in his letter, the communique, the first of its kind between the two rival premiers, arrived 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.
”Spare yourself sending repeated messages and threats to ignite war and target civilians,” Dbeibeh said in brief statement via Twitter after addressing Bashagha as “former interior minister”, which is the last post the latter held in public office before he was named premier by parliament.
إلى وزير الداخلية الأسبق، وفّر عليك إرسال الرسائل المتكررة والتهديدات بإشعال الحرب واستهداف المدنيين، لو كان لديك حرص على حياة الليبيين، فركز جهدك لدخول الانتخابات، ودع عنك أوهام الانقلابات العسكرية فقد ولى زمانها.
— عبدالحميد الدبيبة Abdulhamid AlDabaiba (@Dabaibahamid) August 24, 2022
“If you care about the lives of Libyans, focus your efforts on entering the elections, and let go of the illusions of military coups. Their time is over,” he said before adding that he did not respond to Bashagha in a formal letter because he is “busy serving the Libyan people”.
Bashagha sends letter to Dbeibeh urging peaceful power transfer