VARIOUS FILE: Libya's oil chief Omran Abukraa has reportedly not returned from a trip abroad to Tripoli, which would make him the third defector from the Muammar Gaddafi regime

Record ID: 343896

  • Title: VARIOUS FILE: Libya's oil chief Omran Abukraa has reportedly not returned from a trip abroad to Tripoli, which would make him the third defector from the Muammar Gaddafi regime
  • Date: 21st August 2011
  • Summary: TRIPOLI, LIBYA (FILE - JUNE 29, 2011) (REUTERS) LIBYAN GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN MOUSSA IBRAHIM AND OIL MINISTER OMRAN ABUKRAA JOURNALISTS TAKING NOTES (SOUNDBITE) (English) LIBYAN GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN, MOUSSA IBRAHIM, SAYING "Now we are fighting with ordinary civilians who have joined the battle against NATO. Now we have thousands upon thousands of tribes, of tribal indiv
  • Embargoed: 5th September 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Libya
  • Country: Libya
  • Topics: Conflict
  • Reuters ID: LVA2TAAYP60CUHW5AHF3LUXPOPKO
  • Story Text: Libya's oil chief, Omran Abukraa, is in Tunisia after deciding not to return to Libya from a trip abroad, a Tunisian official source said on Saturday (August 20), the third apparent defection this week of a senior figure associated with Muammar Gaddafi's rule.
    "Libyan Oil Minister Omran Abukraa did not return to Libya after his mission in Italy, preferring to cut his trip short and go to Tunisia," the Tunisian official source told Reuters.
    The report, if confirmed, suggests more senior figures are deserting Gaddafi's government since rebels seized the city of Zawiyah, cutting off Tripoli from the outside world.
    A senior security official, Nasser al-Mabruk Abdullah, flew to Cairo from Tunisia on Monday (August 15) with his family. Rebels said Abdel Salam Jalloud, Gaddafi's former deputy who is now out of favour with the leader, defected to their side on Friday (August 19).
    Although Libya does not formally give its officials the title of minister, Abukraa represented Tripoli at an OPEC oil ministers' meeting in June.
    He replaced Tripoli's long-serving oil chief Shokri Ghanem, who defected from Gaddafi's government and said he supported the aims of rebels trying to topple him.
    When he took on the role in June, Abukraa answered journalists' questions at a news conference in Tripoli, flanked by government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim.
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