Health Minister of the new Libyan government, Othman Abdul-Jalil, took the constitutional oath before the Speaker of the House of Representatives (HoR), Aqila Saleh, at his office in Al-Qubba.
HoR Spokesman, Abdullah Belhaq, said that Abdul-Jalil will begin his work as Minister, starting Saturday, after he was unable to attend HoR’s session of taking the constitutional oath of the Fathi Bashagha government last Thursday.
The Prime Minister, Fathi Bashagha, had discussed with Abdul-Jalil the strategies and measures that he will follow as a Minister of Health.
Othman Abdul-Jalil accused outgoing prime minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh of being responsible for recent threats and attacks against members of Prime Minister Fathi Bashagha’s cabinet.
In a recorded speech released today after he was sworn in as minister, Abdul-Jalil stressed that such threats “will not discourage the new government from moving forward in assuming its duties”.
Abdul-Jalil’s remarks came two days after Hafed Gaddur, who serves as foreign minister in Bashagha’s cabinet, was kidnapped, and later released, by a militia in Tripoli together with two other members of the new cabinet.
Echoing Abdul-Jalil’s allegation in a statement to Italian news agency Ansa, Gaddur also accused Dbeibeh of ordering the kidnapping.