Following clashes in the capital Tripoli, the Military Prosecutor’s Office of Libya’s Defense Ministry issued an arrest warrant for Tobruk parliament-appointed Prime Minister Fathi Bashagha on Sunday.
For the arrest, the prosecutor’s office made a written request to the police, intelligence services and all security services in the country in addition to demands for other arrests, notably for Bashagha’s major ally, Maj. Gen. Osama al-Juwaili, the former head of the Tripoli-based military intelligence service, Bashagha’s Minister of Health and his government spokesperson Othman Abdel-Jalil, and Mohamed Sowan, the chairman of Libya’s Democratic Party.
Bashagha blamed Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh and government officials for the clashes in Tripoli.
In the meantime, regarding the recent developments in the capital, Dbeibeh made an address to the nation via the official Facebook account of the Libyan government on Sunday.
He stated, “We will bring those responsible for the attacks in Tripoli to justice.”
During clashes between rival militias in several districts of Tripoli, at least 32 people were killed and 159 others were injured.
One day after the heavy clashes between forces backing Dbeibeh and forces loyal to his rival Bashagha, who was appointed by the Tobruk-based parliament as prime minister, the situation calmed in the capital.
As both Dbeibeh and Bashagha claim power and authority in the capital, the violence, the worst since reaching a ceasefire in 2020, came amid military buildups by forces affiliated with the two figures.
Since 2011, when longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi was ousted after four decades in power, oil-rich Libya has remained in turmoil.
