Libya FM Suspended Days Before International Conference

Libya's presidential council suspended Foreign Minister Najla al-Mangoush from her duties Saturday days before an international conference is to make a new push to restore stability to the war-battered nation.

The council opened an inquiry into alleged "administrative breaches" by Mangoush, spokeswoman Najla Weheba told the Libya Panorama television channel.

The El-Marsad news website, which is close to eastern-based strongman Khalifa Haftar, claimed that the council accused her of taking foreign policy decisions without consulting it.

A decree from the council said its vice chairman Abdullah Allafi would head a commission of inquiry that would report its findings within 14 days.

The political infighting in Tripoli comes amid a new international push for fresh presidential and parliamentary elections to help stabilize the war-battered North African nation.

US Vice President Kamala Harris is to join French President Emmanuel Macron and other world leaders at a conference in Paris on November 12.

Libya has been struggling to move past the violence that has wracked the oil-rich nation since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi, with political wrangling over the date of the twin elections latest stumbling block.