Tripoli : The prime minister of Libya’s internationally recognised government, Abdullah al-Thani, has announced his resignation in a surprise move live on television, hours after fraught peace talks between the country’s rival factions restarted.
During the talk show Prime Minister Al-Thani faced a barrage of angry questions from citizens who blamed his government for the lack of basic services such as electricity and poor security in areas it controls.
“If my exit is the solution, then I announce it here,” al-Thani said during the talk show, adding that “my resignation will be submitted to the parliament on Sunday”. The prime minister, who escaped an assassination attempt in May when gunmen opened fire on his car after a parliament meeting, was also hit with accusations of corruption against his government in the television interview. Libya, which plunged into chaos after the fall of Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, currently has two rival parliaments vying for power as well several militia groups battling for control of the country’s vast resource wealth. Al-Thani’s elected government has been working out of a small eastern city near the border with Egypt since an Islamist militia alliance captured the capital Tripoli last year.
