Tripoli, 13.08. (Prensa Latina) The British Ambassador to Libya, Caroline Hurndall, has come under fire again today from national political circles, who accuse her of interfering in the country’s internal affairs.
More than fifty lawmakers found Hurndall’s ties to the so-called Government of National Unity, one of the two claiming power, unacceptable.
MEPs warned in a statement that the diplomat could be declared an undesirable person because Libya “is an independent country and is not affiliated with the UK or any other”.
This is the second time Members of the House of Representatives have denounced the work of the British official, following similar criticisms leveled late last year.
Lawmakers believe that the mandate of the national unity government led by Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh ended on December 24, the date set for general elections, which for various reasons were never held.
Hurndall told Arabic television Al Jazeera this week that his country is working with Dbeibeh because he is the authority recognized by the UN and the international community.
After a relatively quiet year, tensions in the country have increased in recent months amid the political crisis that threatens to further fracture this North African nation.
In February, parliament appointed Fahi Bashagha as interim prime minister to replace Dbeibeh, who refused to hand over power without holding elections.
Dbeibeh and his cabinet are based in this capital, while Bashagha’s executive is based in the eastern city of Tobruk, where the legislature is also based.
If Dbeibeh is backed by the Presidential Council, a collegial body that performs the functions of a head of state, the latter has the backing of Parliament and the armed forces of Marshal Khalifa Haftar, a strongman in the east of the country.
Libya has been on a spiral of violence since the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 after a war backed by members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization including the United States, France and the United Kingdom.
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