Libya appoints a new envoy to Algeria after position is vacant for years

Libya has appointed an ambassador to Libya after the position remained vacant for more than four years.

Saleh Mohamed Himma Bakda submitted his credentials to the Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ramtane Lamamra, on Monday.

According to a statement by the Algerian Foreign Ministry: “The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ramtane Lamamra, received Saleh Himma Mohamed Bakda, who submitted to him copies of his credentials as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Libya to Algeria.”

The officials also discussed the latest developments in the political and security situation in Libya, stressing the need to increase and coordinate efforts to achieve the goal of building democratic institutions under an inclusive Libyan reconciliation that ends differences and achieves security, stability and development.

The Libyan diplomat expressed his “thanks and gratitude to the Algerian authorities for standing with Libya in these delicate circumstances.”

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Saleh Mohamed Himma Bakda is a member of the Libyan House of Representatives for the Ghat region adjacent to the Algerian border.

The appointment of Bakda as the Libyan ambassador to Algeria came after the position was vacant for about four years since Mohamed Mukhtar Mazen stepped down at the beginning of 2018. He was then succeeded by a charge d’affaires who has been running the embassy until today.

In October 2021, Algeria appointed the former speaker of parliament Slimane Chenine as ambassador to Libya.

Months later, Algeria reopened its embassy in Tripoli after closing it in May 2014 and quickly evacuating its members following information that ” terrorist groups attempted to storm it”. The affairs of the embassy have been managed from Tunisia since the evacuation.