TOBRUK, Libya: Libya’s new interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah was sworn in on Monday to lead the war-torn country’s transition to elections in December, after years of chaos and division.
The North African nation descended into conflict after Muammar Gaddafi was toppled and killed in a Nato-backed uprising in 2011, resulting in multiple forces vying for power.
A United Nations-supervised process is aimed at uniting the country, building on an October ceasefire between rival administrations in the country’s east and west.
Dbeibah, selected at UN-sponsored talks in February alongside an interim three-member presidency council, took the oath of office in front of lawmakers in the eastern city of Tobruk.
More than 1,000 kilometres from the capital Tripoli in the west, Tobruk has been the seat of Libya’s elected parliament since 2014.
Dbeibah’s swearing-in comes after parliament last week approved his cabinet, in a move hailed by key leaders and foreign powers as “historic”.
His government includes two deputy prime ministers, 26 ministers and six ministers of state, with five posts including the key foreign affairs and justice portfolios handed to women, a first in Libya. “This will be the government of all Libyans,” Dbeibah said after the vote. “Libya is one and united.”
Dbeibah’s administration is expected to replace both the UN-recognised Government of National Accord, based in Tripoli, and a parallel cabinet headquartered in the east, under the de facto control of forces of military strongman Khalifa Haftar. — AFP
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