Libya’s Prime Minister states that the effort to eliminate militias is a ‘ongoing project’ while the ceasefire remains in effect

Eliminating militias is a “ongoing project,” Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah stated on Saturday, although a ceasefire which had been in effect since this week’s fatal confrontations stood.

“We won’t spare anyone who keeps up their extortion or corruption. In a statement that was shown on television, Dbeibah stated, “We want to establish a Libya free from corruption and militias.”

Dbeibah, a Tripoli-based leader, is the nation’s internationally acclaimed western leader.

Tripoli saw its most intense battles in years between two armed groups after Dbeibah ordered the groups to dismantle on Tuesday. According to the UN, at least eight people were killed in the confrontations.

A truce was declared on Wednesday by the administration.

The assassination of prominent militia leader Abdulghani Kikli, popularly known as Ghaniwa, on Monday came after his Stabilization Support Apparatus organization was unexpectedly defeated by Dbeibah-aligned groups.

The Presidential Council, which was elected in 2021 alongside the Dbeibah Government of National Unity through a procedure supported by the UN, is in charge of SSA.

The crowded neighborhood of Abu Salim served as the headquarters for SSA.
In a statement, the Interior Ministry of GNU reported that nine decomposing bodies were discovered in a morgue refrigerator at the Al-Khadra hospital in Abu Salim. It stated that SSA never informed the authorities about them.

Dbeibah was seen greeting the security personnel guarding the Prime Ministry Building in a video released by the PM’s media office. Later, he reportedly received elder delegations to discuss the situation in Tripoli and what he described as a “successful security operation in Abu Salim.”

“The Prime Minister stressed that this operation falls within the state’s fixed vision to eliminate armed formations outside the police and army institutions,” said the press office.

Hundreds of demonstrators marched to the streets on Friday, demanding the removal of Dbeibah, and at least three ministers resigned in solidarity.

Dbeibah remained silent over their resignations.

“Although the objections upset me, I’ve accepted them. He said, “I know a lot of them are paid, but I know some of them are real.”

In response to the increasing violence in Tripoli, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya called on all sides to safeguard citizens and public property on Friday.

The long-standing tyrant Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown in an uprising supported by NATO in 2011, but Libya has not been stable since. Though a major conflict was halted by a truce in 2020, the country was divided in 2014 between opposing eastern and western factions.

Khalifa Haftar and his Libyan National Army have ruled eastern Libya for ten years, but many armed groups have divided authority in Tripoli and western Libya.

Libya is a significant energy exporter and a significant stopover for migrants traveling to Europe. At the same time, its war has attracted international countries such as Egypt, Russia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.

The state-owned oil company NOC said on Friday that its operations at its facilities are going according to plan, and that its exports of gas and oil are running well.