Fathi Bashagha, appointed as prime minister by the parliament in a challenge to a unity government in Tripoli, plans to take office in the capital “in the coming days,” he told AFP. In May, Bashagha arrived in the capital Tripoli in the country’s west and attempted to take office there, sparking pre-dawn clashes between armed groups supporting him and those backing his rivalAbdul Hamid Dbeibeh. He backed down, he told AFP, to avoid bloodshed, but says he has since received “positive invitations” to enter the capital. “All the roads are open into Tripoli and God willing we’ll be there in the coming days,” he said in an interview Friday, speaking via Zoom from his temporary base in the central city of Sirte. Bashagha said he did not believe there would be a return to war, but he warned that “there might be chaos because of demonstrations”.

Source: Libya Today July 10, 2022 10:18 UTC