Rebel Leader Who Helped Topple Gaddafi Dies From Coronavirus
A former head of a rebel government which helped topple ex-Libyan strongman, Muammar Gaddafi, in a brutal coup d’etat has died following complications from the coronavirus.
Mahmud Jibril, 68, died in Cairo last Saturday from the coronavirus, where he had been hospitalized for two weeks, according to Khaled al-Mrimi, secretary of the Alliance of National Forces, reported Africa News.
The director of the Cairo hospital, Hisham Wagdyn, said that Jibril had suffered a heart attack before he was admitted on March 21.
There, in hospital, he tested positive for the deadly Covid-19 and was quarantined in the fortnight leading up to his death.
In March 2011, Jibril was appointed leader of the interim government following the overthrow of dictator Gaddafi, which led to a power vacuum in the region and the rise of the Arab Spring.
Jibril founded the Alliance of National Forces in 2012 as the region still fails to find lasting political stability.
He had petitioned Western governments to throw their support behind him in deposing Gadaffi–to disastrous effect.
Since Gaddafi’s brutal removal from power, Libya has struggled to contain waves of Sub-Saharan migrants striving to reach Europe via one of Italy’s islands and beaches.
As a result, a booming open-air slave trade emerged which gathered significant media attention at its height a few years ago.
Libya has been politically split in two; with an internationally recognized government based in Tripoli, and a military government based in Benghazi.
Africa has remained relatively unaffected by the deadly coronavirus with 18 cases as of April 6.
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