Libya’s Defence Minister, Mohammed al-Bargathi, has resigned in protest against a siege by gunmen of two government ministries that he denounced as an assault on democracy.
He was the first cabinet minister to quit in a crisis over the siege, which armed groups refused to lift even after parliament bowed on Sunday to their main demand by banning any senior official who served under the late dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, from holding government posts.
“I will never be able to accept that politics can be practised by the power of weapons.
“This is an assault against the democracy I have sworn to protect,’’ al-Bargathi said.
