Today’s news / Libya
A meeting between Libya's foreign minister and Israel's foreign minister has angered Libyans. Photo: Mahmud Turkia/Ritzau Scanpix

Libya

Overnight Monday, there were major protests in Libya, and fires broke out in several places in the capital, Tripoli. The unrest arose after it became public that the country’s foreign minister, Najla Mangoush, held a meeting with Israel’s foreign minister, Eli Cohen, in Rome. Libya has no formal diplomatic relations with Israel and supports the cause of the Palestinians. The Libyan foreign minister has been suspended by Libyan Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibeeh as a result of the meeting, according to the al-Wasat Gate portal. According to Al-Wasat Youth Minister Fathallah Abdullatif al-Zini has been temporarily assigned to run the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
     Libya’s Foreign Ministry has said there has been no formal meeting with the Israeli Foreign Minister. Instead, a “relaxed, non-official and non-prearranged meeting” between the two ministers was said to have been held in Rome. An unnamed Israeli official said on Monday that the meeting between ministers had been agreed in advance “at the highest level” by Libya and lasted more than an hour, according to Reuters. /ritzau/DPA/Al-Wasat/