Boris Johnson offers full support to Libya’s interim leader Abdul Hamid Dbeibah

UK premier congratulates his counterpart on recent appointment

Abdulhamid Dbeibah is a businessman. AFP

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called Libya’s interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah on Friday to express his support of the current Libyan political process.

Mr Johnson offered his full backing to Mr Dbeibah’s administration ahead of national elections in December.

Mr Dbeibah, a businessman from the city of Misurata, was the surprise victor last week in a UN-organised process to select a new interim executive leadership in Libya. He is due to announce his proposed government in the coming weeks.

A Downing Street representative said that Mr Johnson spoke to Mr Dbeibah on Friday morning “to congratulate him on his appointment”.

“He offered our full support to his administration as they seek to implement the October 2020 ceasefire agreement and work to improve public services and governance,” the representative said.

“Mr Dbeibah set out his intention to bring Libyans together and stabilise the country, and welcomed the assistance of the UK and wider international community in that effort. They agreed to remain in close contact in the coming months as the interim government prepares for national elections later this year.”

In a tweet, Mr Dbeibah claimed the two leaders discussed the prospect of reopening the British Embassy in Tripoli, which is closed because of security concerns.

Mr Johnson visited Libya in 2017 when he was the UK foreign secretary but provoked outrage later in the year when he said the city of Sirte, which had been liberated from ISIS by Libyan forces, could be like Dubai once they “clear the dead bodies away”.