Identical sources from Benghazi confirmed that armed gunmen loyal to Khalifa Haftar stormed Tuesday morning the headquarters of the Government of National Unity (GNU) and dismissed all employees before it had handed it over to the Deputy PM of the Bashagha government that was appointed by the House of Representatives (HoR) Ali Al-Gotrani.
Al-Hadath TV, owned by Haftar’s son, said the incident was a peaceful and legal handover of power between GNU officials and the new government, adding that the secretary of Hussein Al-Gotrani: Deputy PM of the GNU, Rida Al-Fartis, supervised the handover.
Meanwhile, Deputy PM of the GNU Hussein Al-Gotrani denied resignation or being pressured to do so, saying that despite being outside of Libya currently, he is still in his position and in support of PM Dbiebah’s initiative regarding elections.
“The GNU will only hand over power to an elected government. The Benghazi government headquarters is under my control and all employees listen to my instructions.” Al-Gotrani added.
Hence, the storming of Benghazi GNU headquarters leaves question marks on the statements of Fathi Bashagha who said more than once that no violence is needed for his government to take over government buildings and institutions.
