Libya’s new premier said on Monday his government will focus on fighting militants, securing borders and strengthening the military with the help of the international community to stabilise the OPEC oil-producing country.
Prime Minister Ahmed Maiteeq, whose government was approved by parliament on Sunday, told Reuters he wanted to continue with a deal to end an oil port occupation by former rebels. But he said he would keep negotiating if the accord to free up the four oil terminals collapsed.
Maiteeq, a hotel owner and businessman educated in Britain, said he did not expect Libya to turn to borrowing to cover its budget needs though his new government was still studying its financial needs and options.
Libya’s third prime minister since March, Maiteeq was voted into office with the backing of the country’s Muslim Brotherhood. But he has been opposed by anti-Islamist factions competing for influence in the chaotic North African state.
“Libya is passing a very difficult time… As Libyans we were flying so high in our expectations. We should be realistic,” Maiteeq told Reuters. “We should focus on our problems, and our problems now are fighting terrorism. Fighting terrorism in Libya should be helped by international society as well.”
Diplomats say Maiteeq, a hotelier and businessman partly educated in London, may seek a more technocrat cabinet, but he will struggle to rein in factions and militias whose infighting left previous governments powerless to impose any authority.
Maiteeq’s government has been rejected by former General Khalifa Haftar, whose irregular forces want to fight Islamist militants and have demanded the General National Congress (GNC) parliament hand over power.
Several military units have allied with him, threatening to split regular forces and the network of competing militias, and his campaign against extremists has touched a nerve for Libyans fed up with instability.
But rival factions have rejected Haftar as trying to force a coup, and it is not clear how much of a broad anti-militant alliance the former Gaddafi ally can really muster.
“His message to Libyans to fight terrorism, to start to build our interior ministry and the Libyan police and army.. This is a very good message,” Maiteeq said, in an apparent attempt at bridge-building with Haftar.
