Fathi Ali Abdul Salam Bashagha, the  Minister of Interior of Libya’s UN-backed government, on Sunday survived an assassination attempt by gunmen in the west of the capital Tripoli.

Mr. Bashagha had finished a meeting on Sunday with the chairman of the National Oil Corporation and was returning to Tripoli, the seat of the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), when his convoy came under attack.

“At 3 p.m. (1300 GMT), an assassination attempt targeted Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha as he was returning from his residence in Janzour district (western Tripoli),” the Interior Ministry said in a statement. “An armoured Toyota opened fire on the minister’s motorcade using machine guns.

“Bashagha’s security guards fired back at the gunmen, killing a gunman and capturing two others, while one guard was injured”, the ministry added.

The ministry confirmed that all necessary legal measures regarding the attempted assassination have been taken.

Libya has been suffering insecurity and chaos ever since the fall of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011.

Sudanese Prime Minister, Abdalla Hamdok, has announced seven former rebel leaders who were part of a peace deal signed in October 2020 in his new cabinet.

Veteran rebel leader and economist Gibril Ibrahim, of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) — which played a major role in the Darfur conflict — was appointed as Sudan’s new finance minister.

Hamdok had, on Sunday, dissolved the previous cabinet to form a more inclusive government.

Two ministers were selected from the military. Many are from the Forces for Freedom and Change which led the protests that saw Omar al-Bashir ousted from power.

The Prime Minister gave the role of finance minister to the veteran rebel leader and economist Gibril Ibrahim. This at a time of sky high inflation, food and fuel shortages.

Being Sudan’s Foreign Minister will also be a major test. That job has gone to Mariam al-Sadiq al-Mahdi – the daughter of Sudan’s last democratically elected Prime Minister, Sadiq al-Mahdi.

There are still military men in Hamdok’s cabinet – a reminder of the awkward marriage between soldiers and civilians as Sudan continues its planned transition to democracy.

The Prime Minister of Sudan, Abdalla Hamdok, has dissolved his cabinet ahead of the planned reshuffling expected to be announced on Monday.

According to a Sunday decree, the ministers will remain in their positions to carry out work “in their ministries until the formation of the new government.’’

Earlier, Faisal Mohammed Saleh, the country’s information minister and the spokesman for Sudan’s transitional government, told Sputnik that the formation of the new cabinet was being postponed to a later date.

This is because the country’s political forces were yet to submit the lists of candidates.

A senior member of the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) alliance, Al-Tijani Mustafa, earlier told Sputnik that the political forces in Sudan had reached an agreement on the composition of the new transitional government.

According to the FFC member, Hamdok plans to keep the incumbent minister of irrigation, justice and religion affairs in the new cabinet.

The final composition of the new cabinet was initially expected to be announced on Feb. 4.

In August 2019, the Sudanese military and civilian political forces agreed to a collaborative governance system following a coup and months of violent protests.

They formed an institution, the Sovereign Council, with equal military-civilian representation and rotating chairmanship to govern the country for the next 39 months of the transition period.

In July, seven interim ministers were dismissed amid criticism of their professional performance and replaced with interim charges d’affaires.

In January, Sovereign Council Chairman Abdel Fattah al-Burhan warned political groups that if they delay the nominations to the new cabinet any longer amid unceasing disagreements, the appointments would be made in an emergency mode.