Former Libyan Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril has died from coronavirus

Jibril died in a hospital in Cairo

Mahmoud Jibril, Leader National Forces Alliance of Libya, speaks during a panel session at the 45th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, 23 January 2015. EPA

Former Libyan prime minister Mahmoud Jibril died in Egypt on Sunday after contracting the coronavirus.

Jibril served as the country's interim premier for more than seven months, from March to October 2011, during the Libyan civil war.

Khaled Al Mrimi, secretary of the Alliance of National Forces party that was founded by Jibril in 2012, said he died in Cairo after two weeks in hospital.

Coronavirus around the Middle East 

Municipality workers spray disinfectant as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus at the Kuwait Salmiya market. EPA

Children hold olive branches as they look out from the sunroof of a car to be blessed by priests to celebrate Palm Sunday, amid the lockdown to contain the coronavirus in Marjayoun, southern Lebanon. Reuters

An empty Greek Catholic Church during a Mass on Palm Sunday in Beirut, Lebanon. EPA

Members of the Kurdish Red Crescent check passengers who were stranded in Damascus upon their arrival at the Qamishli airport in Syria's north-eastern Hasakeh province. AFP

Coptic girls reacting while watching hymns performed on telelvision at home at Shubra Al Khema district in Cairo, Egypt. EPA

Iraqi priests celebrate the Palm Sunday Mass at the empty Saint Joseph Church in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq. AFP

A Palestinian man, who was quarantined, talks on his phone on a hotel window in Gaza City. EPA

Palestinian security policemen wearing protective gear, patrol on the street of Gaza city. EPA

A street vendor wearing protective face mask stands between lines of cars during a sandstorm in Cairo, Egypt. EPA

Members of the Kurdish Red Crescent check passengers who were stranded in Damascus upon their arrival at the Qamishli airport in Syria's north-eastern Hasakeh province. AFP

A view of an empty street during the coronavirus pandemic in Tunis, Tunisia. EPA

A view of an empty street during the coronavirus pandemic in Tunis, Tunisia. EPA

A statue representing the Virgin Mary and Jesus is seen in front of the closed St Maroun Maronite Catholic Church during Mass on Palm Sunday in downtown Beirut, Lebanon. EPA

Municipality workers spray disinfectant as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus at the Kuwait Salmiya market following the outbreak of coronavirus in Kuwait. EPA

Afghan health workers spray disinfectants at public places in Helmand, Afghanistan. EPA

In a tweet on Sunday, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Anwar Gargash expressed his condolences.

"We lost today a good friend, Dr Mahmoud Jibril, the ex-Libyan prime minister who passed away in Cairo," Dr Gargash said.

"The deceased loyally worked for his country and people. True condolences and comfort to the family of the deceased."

Jibril, 68, was appointed head of the National Transitional Council during the civil war in which Libya's former leader Muammar Qaddafi was captured and killed.

Prior to this, he served as head of the National Economic Development Board for the Qaddafi regime before defecting to the rebel National Transitional Council at the start of the revolution in early 2011.

In October 2011, he announced that he would resign from government as soon as the country had been "liberated".

It was a promise he kept, stepping down from his post three days after the city of Sirte was captured and Qaddafi was killed.

In March 2012, he became the leader of the newly founded National Forces Alliance, which is now one of the largest political parties in Libya.

Supporters regarded Jibril as someone who could unify Libya's warring factions.

The alliance is composed of 58 political organisations, 236 charities and more than 280 independents.

It calls for moderate Islamic, democratic, civil state" that respects minority groups.

Libya announced its first official cases of the coronavirus last week, with only a handful of infections reported so far.