Libya’s Presidential Council suspended Foreign Minister Najla Mohammed El Mangoush from office, citing unspecified violations that she had reportedly committed, the Libya Al-Ahrar TV channel reported on Saturday citing a ruling of the Council.
"Ms. El Mangoush’s tenure as the foreign minister is suspended due to an ongoing investigation into managerial violations that she had committed in the state’s foreign policy," the ruling says.
According to Al Arabia, the document also says that El Mangoush "acts independently on the foreign arena on behalf of the Libyan state and does not coordinate her actions with the Council."
A special commission, chaired by Deputy Head of the Libyan Presidential Council, Abdullah Al-Lafi, has been set up to investigate the matter. El Mangoush was barred from leaving the country.
Libya’s ambassadors to the United States and Oman, as well as the country’s envoy to the Arab Leage, filed complaints to the country’s Prosecutor General, accusing the foreign minister of abuse of office. Earlier, El Mangoush insisted on the diplomats’ return, because their credentials had expired. However, in accordance with the country’s laws, only the Presidential Council has the authority to appoint and recall ambassadors.
From the very beginning, influential Islamic political groups opposed El Mangoush, who is strongly against Turkish military presence in the country and is pressing for withdrawal of foreign mercenaries from the Libyan territory.