Libyan GNU Minister Survives Assassination Attempt

State minister for cabinet affairs Adel Juma meets with GNU Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah in Tripoli. GNU file photo
State minister for cabinet affairs Adel Juma meets with GNU Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah in Tripoli. GNU file photo
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Libyan GNU Minister Survives Assassination Attempt

State minister for cabinet affairs Adel Juma meets with GNU Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah in Tripoli. GNU file photo
State minister for cabinet affairs Adel Juma meets with GNU Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah in Tripoli. GNU file photo

A Libyan state minister survived an assassination attempt when gunmen opened fire on his car in the capital Tripoli on Wednesday. The Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNU) strongly condemned the attack in which it said an unknown group had shot directly at the vehicle of the state minister for cabinet affairs Adel Juma as it travelled on a highway.

The statement, posted on an official platform, said that Juma's health condition was stable, and that security authorities had "launched investigations to uncover the circumstances of the incident and track down the perpetrators."

The GNU spokesperson, Mohamed Hamouda, told Asharq Al-Awsat that "there are no details yet on the incident," as investigations by security agencies are ongoing to find the perpetrators.

He spoke about "the successful surgery" conducted to extract bullets from the minister's right leg and treat the fractures, confirming that "his health condition is stable."

Local media quoted eyewitnesses as saying that Juma’s vehicle came under a barrage of bullets on a highway in Tripoli. He was seriously injured in his legs and rushed to Abu Salim Hospital.



Syria’s Sharaa Says New Authorities Can't Satisfy Everyone

Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa delivers a speech in Damascus on March 29, 2025. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa delivers a speech in Damascus on March 29, 2025. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
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Syria’s Sharaa Says New Authorities Can't Satisfy Everyone

Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa delivers a speech in Damascus on March 29, 2025. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa delivers a speech in Damascus on March 29, 2025. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)

Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said Monday a new transitional government would aim for consensus in rebuilding the war-torn country but acknowledged it would be unable to satisfy everyone.

The transitional 23-member cabinet -- without a prime minister -- was announced Saturday, more than three months after Sharaa's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) led an offensive that toppled longtime president Bashar al-Assad.

The autonomous Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria has rejected the government's legitimacy, saying it "does not reflect the country's diversity".

Sharaa said the new government's goal was rebuilding the country but warned that "will not be able to satisfy everyone".

"Any steps we take will not reach consensus -- this is normal -- but we must reach a consensus" as much as possible, he told a gathering at the presidential palace broadcast on Syrian television after prayers for the Eid al-Fitr Muslim holiday.

Authorities are seeking to reunite and rebuild the country and its institutions after nearly 14 years of civil war.

Sharaa said the ministers were chosen for their competence and expertise, "without particular ideological or political orientations".