Dbeibah: Libya Under Threat of Division, Facing Great Danger

Head of Libya’s GNU Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah in Tripoli, Libya on November 21, 2021. (AFP/Getty Images)
Head of Libya’s GNU Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah in Tripoli, Libya on November 21, 2021. (AFP/Getty Images)
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Dbeibah: Libya Under Threat of Division, Facing Great Danger

Head of Libya’s GNU Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah in Tripoli, Libya on November 21, 2021. (AFP/Getty Images)
Head of Libya’s GNU Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah in Tripoli, Libya on November 21, 2021. (AFP/Getty Images)

Head of Libya’s Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah warned that the country is facing the threat of division and coming up against a “great danger.”

During the opening of a mosque in al-Asbiah city on Friday, he said: “Some parties want to divide the country for the sake of a few crumbs, funds and fortunes.”

“We declare that the country will remain one and united even if it means dying for it,” he added.

Addressing Libya’s enemies, whom he didn’t identify, he stated: “They want to take us back, but I say to them that we will never return to the dark days when we used to fight each other.”

“Those who let us live in darkness in the past ten years want to continue to do so,” he remarked.

Turning to the economy, Dbeibah said the situation was “good” and that Libya was producing a surplus of oil.

Furthermore, he held the central bank responsible for the liquidity crisis, calling on it to “radically” change its policies at banks, which are in turn exploiting the situation in the country.

Dbeibah said he has no authority over them.



Schools Closed in Beirut after Deadly Israeli Strike

Firefighters douse flames at the site of an Israeli strike on a building in the Lebanese capital - AFP
Firefighters douse flames at the site of an Israeli strike on a building in the Lebanese capital - AFP
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Schools Closed in Beirut after Deadly Israeli Strike

Firefighters douse flames at the site of an Israeli strike on a building in the Lebanese capital - AFP
Firefighters douse flames at the site of an Israeli strike on a building in the Lebanese capital - AFP

Schools in Beirut were closed on Monday after Israeli strikes on the Lebanese capital killed six people including Hezbollah's spokesman, the latest in a string of top militant targets slain in the war.

Israel escalated its bombardment of Hezbollah strongholds in late September, vowing to secure its northern border with Lebanon to allow Israelis displaced by cross-border fire to return home.

Sunday's strikes hit densely populated districts of central Beirut that had so far been spared the violence engulfing other areas of Lebanon.

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The strikes prompted the education ministry to shut schools and higher education institutions in the Beirut area for two days.

Children and young people around Lebanon have been heavily impacted by the war, which has seen schools around the country turned into shelters for the displaced.

Lebanese authorities say more than 3,480 people have been killed since October last year, with most casualties recorded since September.

Israel says 48 soldiers have been killed fighting Hezbollah, AFP reported.

Another strike hit a busy shopping district of Beirut, sparking a huge blaze that engulfed part of a building and several shops nearby.

Lebanon's National News Agency said the fire had largely been extinguished by Monday morning, noting it had caused diesel fuel tanks to explode.

"In a quarter of an hour our whole life's work was lost," said Shukri Fuad, who owned a shop destroyed in the strike.

Ayman Darwish worked at an electronics shop that was hit.

"Everyone knows us, everyone knows this area is a civilian area, no one is armed here," he said.

One of those killed in the strike, Darwish said, was the son of the owner of the store where he worked.

"The martyr Mahmud used to come after working hours, in the evenings and even on Sundays, to deal with client requests," he said.

The NNA reported new strikes early Monday on locations around south Lebanon, long a stronghold of Hezbollah.