Libya’s chief prosecutor seeking more details on minister’s meeting with Israeli FM

Libya’s chief prosecutor said Saturday he would establish a fact-finding mission to investigate a meeting last month between the foreign minister of one of the country’s rival governments and Israel’s chief diplomat. Najla Mangoush, the foreign minister of the Tripoli-based government, and Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen met in Rome in the first-ever meeting between top diplomats of Libya and Israel. Hours after Cohen’s office issued a statement revealing the meeting last Sunday, Libya’s Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh suspended Mangoush from her role and said an investigation panel would be formed to look into the meeting. In his first public remarks since Cohen publicized the secret meeting, Dbeibeh on Thursday rejected the prospect of normalizing relations with Israel. “Long live Libya, long live Palestine, and long live the Palestinian cause in all of our hearts,” he said.