Former Libya Prime Minister dies from coronavirus

Mahmoud Jibril, the former head of the Libyan rebel government that overthrew longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, has died from the coronavirus.

Jibril, 68, died on Sunday in Cairo where he had been hospitalised for two weeks, said Khaled al-Mrimi, secretary of the National Forces Alliance, founded by Jibril in 2012.

He had been admitted to the Ganzouri Specialized Hospital in Cairo on March 21 after suffering from cardiac arrest and three days later tested positive for coronavirus, hospital director Hisham Wagdy said.   

"He started ... recovering the day before yesterday but then he began deteriorating again," Wagdy told a news agency, confirming that Jibril died at 2pm local time.

He was an economic advisor to the Gaddafi government in its final years, before joining the revolution in 2011.

Jibril headed the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC), the interim government during the NATO-backed rebellion that toppled and killed Gaddafi.

In the early days of the Libyan uprising, Jibril made several trips abroad to rally European and US support for the rebels against Gaddafi.

Source: Agencies



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