On Wednesday, the incumbent Prime Minister of Libya’s Government of National Unity (GNU), Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba accused his Parliament-designated rival, Fathi Bashagha of threatening a new conflict.
This comes a few hours after Bashagha released a letter addressed to Dbaiba, in which he urged him to peacefully hand over power.
Libya is torn between armed groups loyal to Bashagha, who was elected by the Libyan Parliament to lead the country in February. As well as groups that support Dbaiba, who refuses to relinquish power and remains recognized as the country’s leader by the international community.
”Spare yourself sending repeated messages and threats to ignite war and target civilians,” Dbaiba said in a briefing statement via Twitter. He addressed Bashagha as the “former Interior
Minister”, which was the last post he held in public office, before he was named Premier by parliament.
“If you care about the lives of Libyans, focus your efforts on running for the elections, and let go of the illusions of military coups. Their time is over,” Dbaiba said. He added that he did not respond to Bashagha in a formal letter because he is “busy serving the Libyan people”.
Bashagha hinted over the weekend that he could enter Tripoli by force. In response, several militias supporting Dbaiba’s government began to mobilize their forces, threatening the possibility of a new conflict.