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Parliament elected Libyan premier Bashagha fails to take office from Dbeibeh

TUNIS, May 17 (KUNA) -- Libya's eastern parliament-appointed Prime Minister Fathi Bashagha and a number his cabinet's members have departed from the Libyan capital shortly after arriving there for procedural power handover.
Information bureau of the Libyan government, tasked by the parliament, said in a statement that Bashagha and the accompanying officials had to leave the capital, on Tuesday, "to spare the blood of the Libyans." The prime minister decided to leave the city after armed clashes erupted with forces loyal to "the government of Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh that refused to hand over the powers," his bureau's official statement added.
The information office declared earlier today that Bashagha and other officials in his cabinet arrived in the capital for the power-handover process, adding that other ministers were due to come later.
The Libyan parliament based in East Libya elected, in March, Bashagha as the new prime minister, however Dbeibeh refused to surrender powers, thus prolonging the local power struggle. (end) ksj.rk