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By Libya Herald reporter.
Malta, 16 March 2015:
The House of Representatives (HoR) has instructed Prime Minister Abdullah Thinni to reinstate the suspended . . .[restrict]Interior Minister Omar Al-Sinki.
In a letter directed to the Prime Minister yesterday, HoR President Agheela Saleh instructed Thinni to enable Sinki to resume his duties effective Sunday. The letter said that this decision was based on the results of the investigation by the pertinent committee.
It will be recalled that Prime Minister Abdullah Thinni removed Sinki from his post on 10 February four days after the Interior Minister had accused General Khalifa Hafter of being a dictator and had called for UNSMIL’s dialogue to be held in Misrata, his home town.
The statements by Sinki came when he had given a controversial interview the previous Wednesday to Le Monde when he was in Paris for talks with the French government.
He had said that Hafter had “no role in Libya’s future” and described him as a dictator who had planned to kidnap the government. He had added that he recalled speaking to Hafter several times and asserted that the general had told him that he wished to be president. He warned Hafter had to be isolated “or he will isolate us”.
Sinki had also said that the government had struck a deal with Misratan leaders for them to withdraw their forces from the attack on the Sidra oil export terminal. However, he said, hardline Misratan political figures Abdurrahman Sewehli and Salah Badi had managed to scotch the deal. He accused Badi of being responsible for the heavy Misratan casualties that followed a renewed assault on Sidra. He also said that Badi was backed by Qatar.
There then ensued a period of confusion and power struggle between Prime Minister Thinni, Sinki and the HoR.
Sinki posted a statement on 11 February on his Ministry of Interior Facebook page saying that he did not accept his removal from office by his Prime Minister. He had insisted that only the HoR had the power to remove him from office and he was carrying on his duties as normal.
In response, the HoR on 13 February rebutted Sinki’s claim to return to office, saying that Thinni had not reversed his initial decision and that Sinki was indeed suspended subject to an HoR investigation.
The head of the HoR Defence and National Security Committee, Fathalla Al-Saity, subsequently denied that Sinki was being investigated by the HoR. [/restrict]
