Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah rejected the prospect of normalization with Israel, days after news of a secret meeting between top envoys sparked protests in the OPEC member.
(Bloomberg) — Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah rejected the prospect of normalization with Israel, days after news of a secret meeting between top envoys sparked protests in the OPEC member.
Condemning Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush’s encounter with Israeli counterpart, Eli Cohen, in Rome last week, Dbeibah told a meeting of his Tripoli-based government on Thursday that it required “a tough response to serve as a lesson.”
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Israel and war-torn Libya, which is divided between dueling governments in the east and west, have no official ties. Libya’s Tripoli-based Foreign Ministry denied the meeting involved any serious discussions.
Dbeibah didn’t comment further on Mangoush, whom he suspended in the wake of Israel’s Aug. 27 announcement of the Rome meeting. Libyan media reported she fled to Turkey amid the uproar.
The scandal is a potential embarrassment for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who’s seeking to build on 2020’s landmark Abraham Accords, under which the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco joined Egypt and Jordan in recognizing the country. The US has been pushing for a deal that would see Saudi Arabia follow suit.
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