Anger in Libya over Israel talks as minister reportedly suspended

Libya scrambled on Monday to explain why its foreign minister met with her Israeli counterpart inspite the two countries having no formal diplomatic links.

The news of the meeting caused uproar in Libya and prompted protesters to take to the streets, local media reported.

They burnt Israeli flags and chanted slogans in solidarity with the Palestinians.

Libya’s Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibeh suspended Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush after she met with Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen, according to the report.

The Libyan Foreign Ministry denied Mangoush held formal talks with Cohen and said the meeting in Rome was a “casual, non-official and previously unprepared meeting”.

In an online statement, the ministry said it “fully and categorically” rejected any normalisation of relations with Israel.

Under a 1957 Libyan law, dealing with Israel is punishable by up to nine years in prison.

The report said, citing security circles that the foreign minister has flown to Turkey on a government plane.

The source added that the minister left the airport with the help of the Internal Security Agency (ISA), but Libyan authorities have denied this.

However, the ISA said on its Facebook page that the foreign minister is on the list of those banned from travelling “until she complies with the investigations” and denied “allowing or facilitating” Mangoush’s travel.

The parliament based in eastern Libya called for an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss what it termed as the “legal and ethical crime against the Libyan people”, referring to the reported encounter.