Libyan interior minister resigns

Minister submits resignation to protest against ‘interference’ in his work by government and parliament.

Libyan minister resigns over differences
Al-Sheikh, a former Tripoli police colonel, took up his post in May after his predecessor Ashour Shuail resigned [AFP]

Libya’s Interior Minister Mohammed Khalifa al-Sheikh has resigned over differences with the prime minister, a parliament member and an official at the prime minister’s office said.

Al-Sheikh submitted his resignation to the cabinet and to parliament in protest against what he said was interference in his work by the government and parliament, Al-Sharif al-Wafi, a member of the Libyan General National Congress, told Reuters news agency. 

He said that he didn’t have any understanding with the prime minister and that he didn’t have enough mandate to carry out his work, Wafi said.

He also complained that some members of the congress interfered in his work, Wafi added. 

An aide to the Prime Minister Ali Zeidan confirmed that al-Sheikh had submitted his resignation but declined to give any details.

Al-Sheikh, a former Tripoli police colonel, took up his post in May after his predecessor Ashour Shuail resigned.

Country gripped by violence

Libya has been gripped by violence since Muammar Gaddafi’s downfall.

Armed groups have further destabilised the oil-producing country, including the eastern city of Benghazi, the cradle of the anti-Gaddafi uprising.

On Saturday, a bomb blast ripped through the garden wall of the Egyptian consulate in Benghazi, injuring a security guard who needed hospital treatment, witnesses said.

US ambassador Christopher Stevens and three others were killed in Benghazi last year after gunmen attacked the consulate during protests over a film they said insulted the Prophet Mohammad.

Source: News Agencies