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.



Egypt, Syria Warn of Danger of Regional Spillover of Gaza War

Egypt's Sisi and Syria's Assad meet in Riyadh in November. (Egyptian presidency)
Egypt's Sisi and Syria's Assad meet in Riyadh in November. (Egyptian presidency)
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Egypt, Syria Warn of Danger of Regional Spillover of Gaza War

Egypt's Sisi and Syria's Assad meet in Riyadh in November. (Egyptian presidency)
Egypt's Sisi and Syria's Assad meet in Riyadh in November. (Egyptian presidency)

Egypt and Syria warned on Saturday of the danger of the spillover of the war in Gaza into the region.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad held telephone talks to congratulate each other on the occasion of the Muslim new year.

They discussed regional developments, expressing their rejection of the displacement of Palestinians inside or outside their territories.

They hoped that relations between Cairo and Damascus would be restored to the way they were before the eruption of the Syrian conflict in 2011.

Both sides had achieved some rapprochement following the devastating earthquake that struck Syria and Türkiye in 2023.

An Egyptian presidency spokesman said Sisi and Assad underscored the need to prevent the Gaza conflict from expanding into the region. They also stressed the need to maintain regional security and stability.

The Syrian presidency said Assad congratulated Sisi on the occasion of the victory of the June 30 revolution during which the Egyptian people defeated extremism.

The Syrian and Egyptian people constantly stand against extremism, which has helped protect the countries of the region and their people, it added according to the Syrian state news agency SANA.

Egypt and Syria have developed their relations in wake of the 2023 earthquake. Their foreign ministers have traded mutual visits and Sisi and Assad held telephone talks after the quake. They also met for the first time in November on the sidelines of the Arab-Islamic summit in Riyadh.

Former aide to the Egyptian foreign minister Hussein Haridi told Asharq Al-Awsat that the telephone call between Sisi and Assad was a “step in the right direction that reflects the political will to consolidate relations between their countries.”

The normalization of ties between Egypt and Syria will help restore stability and security in the region and rein in the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people, he added.