Libya: “Dabaiba was aware of Mangoush’s meeting with her Israeli counterpart”
Two senior officials in Dabaiba government revealed that Prime Minister Abdelhamid Al-Dabaiba was aware of the meeting held last week in Rome between his Foreign Minister Naglaa Al-Mangoush and her Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen.
The normalization of relations between Tripoli and Tel Aviv was discussed for the first time in a meeting between Dabaiba and the CIA director, William Burns. .
One of the officials said that Dabaiba gave the green light to the meeting last month, when he was on a visit to Rome, his office arranged the meeting in coordination with Mangoush, according to the Associated Press.
The second official said that the meeting lasted about two hours, and Najla al-Mangoush informed the Prime Minister about it immediately after her return to Tripoli.
One of them said that the arrangements were made in the Director of CIA office.
He added that the meeting came after efforts brokered by the United States to push Libya to join a series of Arab countries that have established diplomatic relations with Israel, the normalization of relations between Tripoli and Tel Aviv was discussed for the first time in a meeting between Dabaiba and CIA Director William Burns, who visited the Libyan capital last January.
He said that Dabaiba had given tentative approval to join the US-brokered normalization agreements, but was concerned about the public backlash.
This corresponds with statements made by Israeli officials, in which they confirmed that the meeting was not a coincidence, it was prepared in advance, with the knowledge of senior Libyan authorities.
The news of the meeting brought protesters out into the streets of Libya, during which Israeli flags were burned, and there were chants in solidarity with the Palestinians, and suspended foreign minister, Najla Mangoush.
