Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) announced that former Prime Minister Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi, the last prime minister to serve under late ruler Moammar al-Gaddafi, was still being held at the reform and rehabilitation Ain Zara prison that is run by the Justice Ministry.
The GNA made the announcement in response to a decision taken by the government in the east’s Justice Ministry to release the inmate.
The Tripoli-based Justice Ministry said in a statement that Mahmoudi “was still an inmate” and that the order to “release him is restricted to the legitimate authority that is solely represented in the GNA.”
It added that it had previously released detainees on health grounds.
This left the door open to the possibility of releasing two former Gaddafi regime officials. The Ministry said it will continue to exercise justice, stressing that it does not discriminate between those who can be released on health grounds.
Meanwhile, dozens of people protested in the town of Harawa near Sirte to demand the GNA to release Abdullah Mansour, who acted as head of internal security under Gaddafi, from al-Hadba Prison in Tripoli.
Niger had repatriated Mansour to Libyan authorities in 2014 through secret negotiations, after he fled the county following the toppling of the Gaddafi regime.
Abdul Warith Issawi, who hails from Harawa, told Asharq Al-Awsat that Mansour’s family hopes that he will be freed soon after several other officials were released. It will appeal to the Public Prosecutor’s office to release him for health reasons, he added.
Separately, UN Special Envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame briefed Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi on the political process in Libya ahead of an Arab League summit that will be held in Tunisia at the end of the month.
The meeting discussed recent talks between parties, especially the meeting that was held last month between Libyan National Army commander Khalifa Haftar and GNA head Fayez al-Sarraj, said Salame.
Salame briefed his host on what he seeks to achieve in the political process and on the economic level in Libya. The envoy stressed the need to rebuild the ministry of interior and deploy state forces to restore security in the country.
During their meeting in Abu Dhabi in February, Sarraj and Haftar vowed to hold elections before the end of 2019.
