Libyan Interior Minister emerges unscathed from assassination attempt

The Libyan Interior Minister, Fathi Bachagha, emerged unscathed from an assassination attempt near Tripoli on Sunday, according to the government of national unity (GNA), recognized by the UN. Mr. Bachagha’s convoy was the target of bullets fired from an armored car in Janzour, a dozen kilometers from Tripoli, the same source said in a statement. “The police escort, who followed the minister responded. Two of the attackers were arrested, the third killed,” the statement added, adding that a minister’s guard was also injured in the attack. The minister, who was returning from a routine visit to the headquarters of a new security unit which depends on his ministry, “is doing well”, according to the same source. Plunged into chaos since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011, Libya faces a serious politico-military crisis caused by a civil conflict between the GNA government and the forces of Marshal Khalifa Haftar, based in eastern Libya . On October 23, the two rival camps had signed a permanent ceasefire agreement with “immediate effect”, after discussions in several countries including Morocco, Tunisia and Switzerland, under the aegis of the UN. On February 5, in addition to the interim Prime Minister, a three-member Transitional Presidential Council was appointed by a Libyan political forum in Switzerland, to ensure the transition pending elections announced for December.