Libya’s parliament-appointed prime minister, Fathi Bashagha, will hold Cabinet meetings in the city of Sirte after being pushed back from the capital by militias aligned with a UN-appointed interim administration in Tripoli, a source close to his government said.
Mr Bashagha, a former interior minister who was chosen as prime minister by the parliament in February, tried to enter the Libyan capital on Tuesday, triggering fighting that killed at least one person. The Tripoli-based interim prime minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, refuses to recognise Mr Bashagha's appointment and said he would give way only to an elected government.
“Following his attempt to enter the capital Tripoli, Mr Bashagha decided to go back to Sirte to avoid any further human loss and clashes,” the government source told The National.
The source said the Bashagha government chose to base themselves in Sirte because it had infrastructure, such as government buildings and hotels, and because of its location on the coast between eastern and western Libya.
He is expected to hold his first Cabinet meeting in Sirte on Sunday.
In a video released on Wednesday, Mr Bashagha said he did not regret his attempt to seat his government in Tripoli, but regretted that a man’s life was lost.
He said he had waited for more than 80 days after his appointment before making the attempt.
Mr Dbeibah described Tuesday's developments as an armed group’s “desperate attempt to spread terror and chaos” in the Libyan capital.
Both governments reported that at least one man was killed by gunfire and five others were wounded in the clashes.
Mr Dbeibah sacked his director of military intelligence, Maj Gen Osama Al Juwaili, on Wednesday, a document from his office shows.
The eastern-based parliament says Mr Dbeibah's mandate expired after elections scheduled for December 24 could not be held because of political disputes.
Jamal Shallouf, a Libyan researcher and head of the Silvium Foundation for Research and Studies, said Mr Bashagha's choice of Sirte to host his government was an "acceptable decision" given its security readiness and administrative infrastructure.
“Sirte is ready despite its damage during the war at the hands of ISIS, especially since this city was to be the seat of the Presidential Council and the Government of National Unity, but the pretexts of not maintaining the headquarters were a reason for the executive authority to remain in the capital, Tripoli,” Mr Shallouf told local media outlets.
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
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What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
