Nouri Abusahmain
نوري أبو سهمين
President of the General National Congress of Libya
In office
25 June 2013 – 5 April 2016
Prime MinisterOmar al-Hassi
Khalifa al-Ghawil
Ali Zeidan
Abdullah al-Thani
Ahmed Maiteeq (Disputed)
Preceded byGiuma Ahmed Atigha (Acting)
Succeeded byFayez al-Sarraj (Chairman of the Presidential Council)
Personal details
Born (1956-10-25) October 25, 1956 (age 67)[citation needed]
Zuwarah, Kingdom of Libya
Political partyAl-Wafaa
*Abusahmain position as head of state has been disputed by Abu Bakr Baira and then by Aguila Saleh Issa.

Nouri Abusahmain (Arabic: نوري أبو سهمين; born October 25, 1956[citation needed]) is a Libyan politician. He is a major figure on the Islamist side of the 2014 Libyan Conflict and founder of the LROR group which is considered "terrorist" by the internationally recognized Libyan parliament. He is reported to have rigged proceedings of the General National Congress[1] while serving as its president.

Biography

He was originally elected to the GNC as member for Zuwarah. He had some support from the Muslim Brotherhood, but stood as an independent candidate. He has denied strong links with the Muslim Brotherhood.

In 2013, he was the Islamist candidate for president of the Libyan General National Congress, but was considered a compromise candidate acceptable to more liberal members of the congress. As a result, he became GNC president on 25 June 2013.[2] He had the support of the Muslim Brotherhood's party, the Justice and Construction Party, in his election.[3] On becoming GNC president, Abusahmain was the first Libyan Berber to attain a national leadership role since the Tripolitanian Republic of 1918–22.[4] Abusahmain immediately set up an Islamist armed group, the LROR, which attempted an Islamist coup in October 2013. He suppressed debates and inquiries which the Islamist part of the GNC did not want, including a debate over his alleged illegal diversion of money towards the LROR.[1]

During Abusahmain's presidency of the GNC and subsequent to GNC's decision to enforce sharia law in December 2013, gender segregation and compulsory hijab were being imposed in Libyan universities from early 2014, provoking strong criticism from Women's Rights groups.

He played a part in the constitutional crisis which emerged when Islamist Ahmed Maiteeq was supposedly elected prime minister in a GNC session in April 2014 which was intimidated by armed Islamist militants bursting into parliament.[5] Although the Deputy Speaker, Justice Ministry, Supreme Court and opposition parties rejected the proceedings as illegal, Abusahmain signed a decree confirming Maiteeq[6]

According to supporters of the eastern government, his term ended when the new House of Representatives was established on 4 August 2014.[7][8] He was succeeded by Abu Bakr Baira, the interim head of new parliament.[9] He was also GNC representative for his Berber hometown of Zuwarah,[10] in the west of the country.

References

  1. ^ a b John, Ronald Bruce St (4 June 2014). Historical Dictionary of Libya. ISBN 9780810878761. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  2. ^ "Libya's national assembly elects new president". Al Arabiya. 25 June 2013. Archived from the original on 6 March 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  3. ^ "Libya assembly votes in first Berber as new chief". Reuters. 25 June 2013. Archived from the original on 24 September 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  4. ^ St John, Ronald Bruce (4 June 2014). Historical Dictionary of Libya. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 24.
  5. ^ "Libya Congress rejects new PM Ahmed Maiteg". BBC News. Archived from the original on 25 November 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  6. ^ "Libya speaker confirms new PM's appointment". Al Jazeera. 5 May 2014. Archived from the original on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  7. ^ Lamloum, Imed. "Libya power handover agreed as airport battle rages on". Yahoo! News. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  8. ^ "Libya's new parliament meets in Tobruk". Libya Herald. 4 August 2014. Archived from the original on 6 August 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  9. ^ "Libyan parliament meets". IOL News. 4 August 2014. Archived from the original on 8 September 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  10. ^ "Nuri Ali Abu Sahmain elected Congress President". Libya Herald. 25 June 2013. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
Political offices Preceded byGiuma Ahmed AtighaActing President of the General National Congress of Libya 2013–2014 Succeeded byAbu Bakr Bairaas Acting President of the House of Representatives of Libya Preceded byAbu Bakr Bairaas Acting President of the House of Representatives of Libya President of the General National Congress of Libya 2014–2016 Succeeded byFayez al-Sarrajas Chairman of the Presidential Council of Libya
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