The Libyan Presidential Council has appointed former Defense Minister Salah al-Din al-Namroush as military commander of the western region of Libya. With al-Namroush’s appointment, the authorities of Osama Juwaili, previously appointed by former Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj during the Government of National Accord (GNA), were abolished.
In the first article of Resolution number 22 of 2021, the Western Military District is financially subordinate to the Ministry of Defense, administratively to the Libyan General Staff, and at the decision stage to the Presidential Council as the Commander-in-Chief. The borders of the Western Military District extend to the Tunisia-Libya border in the west, the coast of the island of Ghiran in the east, and the western mountains in the south.
The appointment of al-Namroush, who has drawn a successful period during the Ministry of Defense, is considered an important development. On the other hand, Juwaili was influential in the repelling of warlord Khalifa Haftar’s invasion of Tripoli in 2019. Juwaili, who played an important role in repelling the attack and taking the Al-Watiyah Military Air Base from Haftar forces, is originally from Zintan.
