DOHA, Qatar

Libya has appointed an ambassador to Qatar for the first time in six years, according to a Libyan source on Tuesday.

Mohamed Al-Lafi, one of the notables in al-Zawiyah city in the country’s west, was named ambassador to the Gulf nation, the source told Anadolu Agency.

Al-Lafi has been a delegate in the UN-sponsored Libyan Political Dialogue Forum since 2020, which contributed to the formation of the current interim executive authority in Libya.

He also held various government positions, including the head of staff of the High Council of State and the undersecretary of the Ministry of Local Government.

Last July, Qatar appointed Khaled Al-Dosari as its ambassador to Libya for the first time since 2014 following the closure of its embassy in the wake of the emergence of rival administrations in the oil-rich country.

Libya, meanwhile, did not have an ambassador in Qatar since October 2016.

Libya is witnessing a deep political rift as the Tobruk-based parliament on Thursday gave confidence to a new government headed by former Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha while Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh insists on continuing with his post and duties as Prime Minister.

As a result of differences over the electoral law and the role of the judiciary in the electoral process, it was not possible to hold presidential and parliamentary elections that were scheduled for December 24, 2021.

The Dbeibeh government warned that it would consider any attempt to storm its headquarters as an "attack against the government.”

Dbeibeh came to power based on the outcomes of the Libyan Dialogue Forum that set the term of the transitional executive authority at 18 months, extending until June 24.

*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar in Ankara