Libya denies reports on Tunisian request for Bashagha to leave

TRIPOLI, Libya

Libya’s newly appointed government of Fathi Bashagha has dismissed reports about being asked by Tunisia to leave the country.

Media reports emerged that the Tunisian government has requested Bashagha to leave the Tunisian territories where he has been residing.

In a statement, the Libyan Foreign Ministry termed the reports as “fake” and “malicious rumors targeting the bilateral relations between the government and its Tunisian counterpart.”

Tension has mounted in Libya since the Libyan Parliament last month gave confidence to a new government headed by Bashagha, a former interior minister, while sitting Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh insists on remaining at his post.

Bashagha's government said it "is in constant coordination and consultation with the Tunisian government”, noting that it values its neighbor’s “efforts and the logistical and security facilities it provided to the government during its stay in Tunisia."

On Thursday, the Bashagha government held its first meeting in the southern city of Sebha to discuss the government program, saying the meeting came ahead of plans to start operating from the capital Tripoli.

Meanwhile, Dbeibeh has reiterated on Tuesday his refusal to hand over power except to a government mandated by a new parliament that comes through elections.

*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar in Ankara