Head of Libya’s rival government suspended by parliament

TRIPOLI: Libya´s parliament, in the east of the divided country, on Tuesday suspended Fathi Bashagha as head of an administration challenging the authority of the country´s western-based prime minister.

Parliament also announced an investigation into Bashagha. The chamber, backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar, had picked Bashagha in February last year to lead a government to replace that of Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, who sits in Tripoli.

In July, Bashagha had told AFP that he planned to take office in Tripoli “in the coming days.” The following month, local media and experts said he had failed in his second attempt to dislodge his rival by force, after clashes in Tripoli killed 32 people.

“The House of Representatives voted unanimously to suspend the chief of government Fathi Bashagha and open an investigation against him,” said the House spokesman Abdullah Bliheg after a closed-door meeting in Benghazi.

Deputies assigned the administration´s finance minister, Oussama Hamad, to act as prime minister while the investigation takes place, Bliheg said. The reasons for Bashagha´s suspension were not immediately known.