عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Dbeibah Kicks off Visit to Tunisia amid Dispute over His Govt's Legitimacy

Head of Libya’s Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah attends the graduation ceremony of a batch of Libyan army cadets, in Tripoli, Libya, Feb. 8, 2022. (AP)
Head of Libya’s Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah attends the graduation ceremony of a batch of Libyan army cadets, in Tripoli, Libya, Feb. 8, 2022. (AP)
TT
TT

Dbeibah Kicks off Visit to Tunisia amid Dispute over His Govt's Legitimacy

Head of Libya’s Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah attends the graduation ceremony of a batch of Libyan army cadets, in Tripoli, Libya, Feb. 8, 2022. (AP)
Head of Libya’s Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah attends the graduation ceremony of a batch of Libyan army cadets, in Tripoli, Libya, Feb. 8, 2022. (AP)

Head of Libya’s Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah arrived in Tunisia on Tuesday for a one-week official visit amid a dispute back home over the legitimacy of his government.

Dbeibah is leading a high-level delegation that includes chief of staff of western Libya forces Mohamed Haddad, Interior Minister Khaled Mazen, Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Shoubi, Minister of Marine Resources Adel Sultan, Minister of Economy and Trade Ali Al-Abed, deputy head of the Internal Security Agency Lotfi al-Harari and the Counter-Terrorism Force Commander Major General Muhammad Al-Zein.

This is Dbeibah’s second visit to Tunisia. He had visited the North African nation on September 9, accompanied by the Ministers of Health and Interior and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs.

"The Libyan delegation will meet with Tunisian President Kais Saied and Prime Minister Najla Bouden," Libyan sources close to Dbeibah said.

Bilateral meetings will be held between several Libyan ministers and their Tunisian counterparts.

The delegation will discuss several files, including the political situation in Libya.

In February, Libya's east-based House of Representatives named a new prime minister, former interior minister Fathi Bashagha, to lead a new interim government. The lawmakers claimed the mandate of Dbeibah, who is based in the capital, Tripoli, expired when the election failed to take place.

But Dbeibah insists he will remain prime minister until elections are held, and the High State Council, which advises the interim government, criticized the parliament’s decision to name a new prime minister before holding elections.

Talks in Tunisia will also discuss the joint border crossings, in addition to strengthening economic relations, commercial exchanges and opening Libyan markets to Tunisian labor.

Observers believe the elections file will dominate the Libyan delegation’s visit to Tunisia, which comes few days after Dbeibah visited Algeria.

In Algiers, he met with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who expressed his support for holding the elections.

Tunisia has in recent years sought a neutral stance and avoided taking sides in the Libyan conflict.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Egypt’s Parliament Speaker Rejects Proposals for Taking in Palestinians from Gaza

Two boys watch a crowd of Palestinians returning to northern Gaza, amid destroyed buildings, following Israel's decision to allow thousands of them to return for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war with Hamas, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP)
Two boys watch a crowd of Palestinians returning to northern Gaza, amid destroyed buildings, following Israel's decision to allow thousands of them to return for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war with Hamas, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP)
TT
TT

Egypt’s Parliament Speaker Rejects Proposals for Taking in Palestinians from Gaza

Two boys watch a crowd of Palestinians returning to northern Gaza, amid destroyed buildings, following Israel's decision to allow thousands of them to return for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war with Hamas, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP)
Two boys watch a crowd of Palestinians returning to northern Gaza, amid destroyed buildings, following Israel's decision to allow thousands of them to return for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war with Hamas, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP)

Egypt’s parliament speaker on Monday strongly rejected proposals to move Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, saying this could spread conflict to other parts of the Middle East.

The comments by Hanfy el-Gebaly, speaker of the Egyptian House of Representatives, came a day after US President Donald Trump urged Egypt and Jordan to take in Palestinians from war-ravaged Gaza.

El-Gebaly, who didn’t address Trump’s comments directly, told a parliament session Monday that such proposals "are not only a threat to the Palestinians but also they also represent a severe threat to regional security and stability.”

“The Egyptian House of Representatives completely rejects any arrangements or attempts to change the geographical and political reality for the Palestinian cause,” he said.

On Sunday, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry issued a statement rejecting any “temporary or long-term” transfer of Palestinians out of their territories.

The ministry warned that such a move “threatens stability, risks expanding the conflict in the region and undermines prospects of peace and coexistence among its people.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right governing partners have long advocated what they describe as the voluntary emigration of large numbers of Palestinians and the reestablishment of Jewish settlements in Gaza.

Human rights groups have already accused Israel of ethnic cleansing, which United Nations experts have defined as a policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove the civilian population of another group from certain areas “by violent and terror-inspiring means.”