TRIPOLI, Feb. 11 — Unidentified gunmen on Thursday attacked the convoy of Libyan Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah in the capital Tripoli, said Libya’s Interior Ministry.
“Earlier today, the convoy of the prime minister was subjected to an armed attack in Souk al-Juma district (central Tripoli) by individuals in a vehicle with no license plates,” Abdulmenem al-Arabi, the ministry’s spokesman, said in a statement.
Confirming that the attack caused no casualties, al-Arabi said the incident happened after a protest against “the political developments in the country.”
“The Interior Ministry condemns this criminal act,” the spokesman said, confirming that an investigation was underway “to bring the criminals to justice.”
The statement was issued a few hours after the House of Representatives (parliament) unanimously voted for Fathi Bashagha as the country’s new prime minister.
However, Dbeibah said on Tuesday that his government would remain in office until elections are held and will only hand over power to “an elected government.”
Dbeibah’s Government of National Unity was appointed by the UN-sponsored Libyan Political Dialogue Forum in February last year, ending years of political division in the North African country.
The Libyan parliament withdrew confidence from Dbeibah’s government in September last year and kept it as a caretaker government.
General elections in Libya had been scheduled for Dec. 24 last year, but were postponed indefinitely over technical and legal issues. – XINHUA
