Libya’s rebel administration hands over power

Addis Ababa, March 24, 2021 (FBC) – The rebel administration in eastern Libya has officially handed power to the country’s new interim government, based in Tripoli.

A handover ceremony took place on Tuesday in Libya’s second city, Benghazi, headquarters until now of the eastern administration.

A new Government of National Unity, led by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah and backed by the UN, was sworn in last week in Tripoli to replace the two rival administrations which have been fighting for control of Libya.

In France, President Emmanuel Macron announced that Paris will next week reopen its embassy in Tripoli, which was closed in 2014.

Libya has been beset by violence since forces backed by NATO overthrew its leader, Muammar Gaddafi, in 2011.