Webdesk: Libya’s prime minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh fired foreign minister Najla Mangoush on Monday to quell nationwide protests after her meeting with Israel’s foreign minister.
Mangoush said her Rome visit with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen unexpected and informal. But an Israeli official told Reuters it lasted two hours and approved “at the highest levels in Libya”.
Libya does not recognise Israel and the Palestinian cause supported across the political spectrum, making the meeting difficult. Palestinians want independence in 1967 Middle East war-captured lands.
The meeting conflict has exacerbated Libya’s internal political turmoil, providing Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah’s detractors ammunition amid doubts about his interim government’s future.
Late Sunday protesters damaged Libya’s Foreign Ministry, where a heavy security presence was apparent early Monday. Protests occurred in other Tripoli neighbourhoods and cities.
Burning tyres blocked key Tripoli roads on Monday, but there was no violence.
Late on Sunday, Mangoush’s office tried to calm the uproar by explaining she had declined Cohen’s request for a formal meeting but had met him unexpectedly when meeting Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.
The Israeli official denied it. “The nearly two-hour meeting was planned at the highest levels in Libya. The Libya prime minister regards Israel as a link to the West and the U.S. “official added.
The US-brokered “Abraham Accords” have normalised relations between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan since 2020. Further agreements are a regional aim.
