Bashagha says ‘We want Mercenaries out of Libya’
Libyan Prime Minister-designate Fathi Bashagha said Wednesday that his government supports the expulsion of all foreign fighters and mercenaries from the country.
In an interview with Reuters on the sidelines of his visit to London, published on Wednesday, Bashagha said that in this regard, he supported the implementation of the recommendation of the 5+5 military committee, which agreed that foreign fighters should be expelled from Libya.
Bashagha, 59, said his government had begun work in the eastern city of Sirte despite the rejection of Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, who was appointed last year as prime minister through a UN-backed process.
In a move that represented strong support for the Bashagha-led government, the Libyan parliament approved the country’s first general budget since 2014 on Wednesday.
The last general budget approved by the House of Representatives in 2015 was prepared by the interim Libyan government headed by Abdullah II at a cost of LYD 41 billion. However, the governor of the Central Bank of Libya, Al-Siddiq Al-Kabeer, refused to approve it in light of the political division in the country, and the government was forced to borrow from the Al-Bayda branch of the Central Bank.
Observers fear a repeat of the same experience, especially after the absenteeism from meetings in the western city of Sirte called by parliament speaker Aguila Salah.
Last year, after unifying the powers of one government, its president, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, submitted a budget of 100 billion dinars to parliament for approval, but the House of Representatives rejected it because of the increase in the value of its emergency clause, which was expected to be spent by Dbeibeh on election campaign posters in the presidential election.
