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Libya's prime minister says he will step down

Libya's internationally recognised prime minister has said in a television interview that he will resign after the station confronted him with questions from angry citizens criticising his cabinet as ineffective.

Abdullah al-Thinni has been based in the eastern city of Tobruk since his government fled Tripoli a year ago after the capital was seized by an armed group that set up a rival administration, part of the chaos gripping the North African country.

"I officially resign and I will submit my resignation to the House of Representatives on Sunday," Thinni told Libya Channel, a private TV station, referring to the Tobruk-based parliament in an interview broadcast late on Tuesday.

However, Thinni's spokesperson, Hatem al-Araibi, denied afterwards that the prime minister had resigned.

"The premier has not resigned officially," Araibi told Reuters news agency.

Thinni has faced criticism for running an ineffective rump state in the east since losing Tripoli, where the rival administration, which is not recognised by world powers, now control ministries and key state bodies, four years after the overthrow of longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi.

His cabinet, working out of hotels, had struggled to make an impact in the remote eastern city of Bayda, while citizens complained about chaos, shortages of fuel and hospital drugs as well as a worsening security situation.

(AL-Jazeera)

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