Libyan Foreign Minister suspended 

The leader of Libya’s government said Sunday that he had suspended his Foreign Minister after her Israeli counterpart announced he had held talks with her last week in Rome.

Najla Al-Mangoush has been “temporarily suspended” and will be subject to an “administrative investigation” by a commission chaired by the justice minister, Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah said on Sunday evening in an official decision posted on Facebook.

The Libyan foreign ministry described it as a “chance and unofficial encounter”, but news of the meeting had already led to street protests in several Libyan cities.

The political row broke out Sunday after Israel’s foreign ministry said the two countries’ foreign ministers had met the previous week.

The statement said Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and Mangoush, his Libyan counterpart in the Tripoli-based administration, spoke at a meeting in Rome hosted by Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.

The Israeli statement described it as the first such diplomatic initiative between the two countries.

“I spoke with the foreign minister about the great potential for the two countries from their relations,” Cohen said in the statement from Israel’s foreign ministry.

But the Libyan Foreign Ministry said on Sunday evening that Mangoush had “refused to meet with any party” representing Israel.

“What happened in Rome was a chance and unofficial encounter, during a meeting with his Italian counterpart, which did not involve any discussion, agreement or consultation,” the Ministry said in a statement.

The Minister had reiterated “in a clear and unambiguous manner Libya’s position regarding the Palestinian cause”, the statement added.

News of the meeting had sparked protests in some Libyan cities and a letter from the country’s Presidential Council requesting clarification.

The Libyan Foreign Ministry accused Israel of trying to “present this incident” as a “meeting or talks.”

In the Israel foreign ministry statement, Cohen was quoted as saying that the two discussed “the importance of preserving the heritage of Libyan Jews, which includes renovating synagogues and Jewish cemeteries in the country.”

“Libya’s size and strategic location offer a huge opportunity for the State of Israel,” he added.

There was no immediate confirmation of the meeting from Rome.