Abdulhamid Dbeibeh - The African Mirror

May

2021

Libyans hope unity rule will end their isolation

AHMED ELUMANI IN Libya's Bani Walid, flags of ousted autocrat Muammar Gaddafi still fly in some places and streets are ragged with neglect, but its residents have new hope for their town and country. During a recent visit by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, head of a new unity government, people waved olive branches as his armoured motorcade passed through the town, which has long been isolated by political disputes. Children raised two fingers in a 'v' for victory and peace. Dbeibeh was appointed in March, sworn in by Libya's divided parliament after his selection via a U.N. talks process, a…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

Libyan interim PM delays trip to east

NEWS

LIBYA's new interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh postponed a visit to the country's east to demonstrate his unity government's progress in ending years of division between warring factions. His spokesman Mohamed Hamouda said in a social media post that the visit had been postponed without giving details. The delay underscores the continued friction between rival camps in the capital Tripoli, in the west, and Benghazi, in the east, the stronghold of commander Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA). East and west sides formed rival administrations in 2014, further dividing a country already beset by the chaos and violence that followed…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

Libyan parliament rejects budget plan

NEWS

LIBYA’S eastern-based House of Representatives (HoR) yesterday rejected the budget plan proposed by the country's new unity government, giving it 10 days to submit a leaner, revised version, members of the body said. The move underscores the difficulties facing new interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, whose success will partly rest on using the country's oil wealth to improve state services. "It's a marker to show that Dbeibeh is no longer the only real centre of gravity," said Tarek Megerisi of the European Council on Foreign Relations, adding that the HoR head Aguila Saleh was showing he could also exert influence.…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

Libya launches COVID-19 vaccination drive after delays

COVID-19

LIBYA’S new unity government launched a long-delayed COVID-19 vaccination programme yesterday after receiving some 160,000 vaccine doses over the past week, with the prime minister receiving his jab on live television. While Libya is richer than its neighbours due to oil exports, the country's healthcare system has been strained by years of political turmoil and violence, and it has struggled to cope during the pandemic. Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh called it a "blessed day" in the fight against COVID-19 after receiving his shot, without saying which vaccine he had been given. At least 100,000 of the doses that arrived this week…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

Libya PM hails “first drop of rain”

COVID-19

MORE than 100,000 doses of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine arrived at Tripoli's Mitiga airport yesterday, Libya's ministry of health said, the first shipment to reach the country. Around 1,000 new infections are announced daily by the National Centre for Disease Control, posing a challenge to a health sector ravaged by years of conflict. "It is the first drop of rain. Thank God, we are able to supply the first batch of corona vaccine," interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh said in a tweet. "The rest of the shipment will arrive in succession," he added, without giving details of how many…