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Tripoli Clashes Expose Disputes between GNA Interior, Defense Ministries

A building damaged during violence seen in Tripoli, Libya, July 9, 2020. (AFP)
A building damaged during violence seen in Tripoli, Libya, July 9, 2020. (AFP)
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Tripoli Clashes Expose Disputes between GNA Interior, Defense Ministries

A building damaged during violence seen in Tripoli, Libya, July 9, 2020. (AFP)
A building damaged during violence seen in Tripoli, Libya, July 9, 2020. (AFP)

Tensions have mounted between the Defense and Interior Ministries in the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) in wake of clashes between the “Al-Daman” and “Lions of Tajoura” militias in Tripoli last week.

The Defense Ministry has threatened to resort to force against the two GNA-affiliated groups if they fail to heed its order to disarm.

In a statement on Saturday, it said the clashes undermine the authority of the state and threaten the lives of civilians.

“Fighting against rebellion does not grant anyone immunity and no one is above the law and constitution,” it added.

Friday’s clashes in an eastern suburb of the capital Tripoli had erupted over a dispute over payments owed to them by the GNA. Several fighters were killed and others wounded.

All armed forces answer to the commander of the Libyan army, continued the Defense Ministry in reference to GNA chief Fayez al-Sarraj.

It vowed to strike with an iron first anyone who violates the values of the civil state or threatens the safety of the people. “We will continue to forge ahead and apply the law in respect of the sacrifices of our people and their pursuit of the establishment of a democratic civilian state,” it stressed.

In response and in what was interpreted as a reflection of where its true loyalties lie, the Al-Daman militia announced that its commander, Ali Adridder, was turning himself over to the Interior Ministry.

Defense Minister Salah al-Namroush had demanded that the commanders of the militias turn themselves in to the military prosecutor.

Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha and Sarraj have so far not commented on the unrest, which is seen as a sign of the tensions between them. Sarraj’s recent appointment of Namroush to his post was seen as a move against Bashagha, who was eying the position of defense minister.

Namroush and Bashagha both boast the backing of Turkey and are seen as GNA stalwarts, but the recent armed clashes in Tripoli have exposed the underlying tensions between them.

Al-Daman and the Lions of Tajoura militias both control the region of Tajoura, which lies some 30 kilometers east of Tripoli.

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Arab World

Sudan’s Ruling Council Reshuffles Cabinet amid Brutal Conflict

A damaged building in Omdurman, Sudan, 01 November 2024 (issued 04 November 2024). (EPA)
A damaged building in Omdurman, Sudan, 01 November 2024 (issued 04 November 2024). (EPA)
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Sudan’s Ruling Council Reshuffles Cabinet amid Brutal Conflict

A damaged building in Omdurman, Sudan, 01 November 2024 (issued 04 November 2024). (EPA)
A damaged building in Omdurman, Sudan, 01 November 2024 (issued 04 November 2024). (EPA)

Sudan's army leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, at war with paramilitaries, has announced a cabinet reshuffle that replaces four ministers including those for foreign affairs and the media.

The late Sunday announcement comes with the northeast African country gripped by the world's worst displacement crisis, threatened by famine and desperate for aid, according to the UN.

In a post on its official Facebook page, Sudan's ruling sovereignty council said Burhan had approved replacement of the ministers of foreign affairs, the media, religious affairs and trade.

The civil war that began in April 2023 pits Burhan's military against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries under the command of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

Since then, the army-aligned Sudanese government has been operating from the eastern city of Port Sudan, which has largely remained shielded from the violence.

But the Sudanese state "is completely absent from the scene" in all sectors, economist Haitham Fathy told AFP earlier this year.

The council did not disclose reasons behind the reshuffle but it coincides with rising violence in al-Gezira, south of the capital Khartoum, and North Darfur in Sudan's far west bordering Chad.

On Friday the spokesman for United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said he condemned attacks by the RSF on Gezira, after the United States made a similar call over the violence against civilians.

Among the key government changes, Ambassador Ali Youssef al-Sharif, a retired diplomat who previously served as Sudan's ambassador to China and South Africa, was appointed foreign minister.

He replaces Hussein Awad Ali who had held the role for seven months.

Journalist and TV presenter Khalid Ali Aleisir, based in London, was named minister of culture and media.

The reshuffle also saw Omar Banfir assigned to the trade ministry and Omar Bakhit appointed to the ministry of religious affairs.

Over the past two weeks, the RSF increased attacks on civilians in Gezira following the army's announcement that an RSF commander had defected.

According to an AFP tally based on medical and activist sources, at least 200 people were killed in Gezira last month alone. The UN reports that the violence has forced around 120,000 people from their homes.

In total, Sudan hosts more than 11 million displaced people, while another 3.1 million are now sheltering beyond its borders, according to the International Organization for Migration.