Najla al-Mangoush, a foreign minister with clipped wings

摘要

Foreign Minister Najla al-Mangoush is among the newly appointed Libyan officials to have been visited by a series of European diplomats over the past three weeks. But she does not have a lot of clout in steering her country's foreign policy. Mangoush was not part of the delegation that travelled with Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dabaiba to the Gulf, a trip that began in Kuwait on 7 April. The PM is mainly accompanied by his relatives, including his cousin and former business partner Ali Ibrahim Dabaiba. Nor did she attend the inauguration of Niger's new president, Mohamed Bazoum, on 2 April (Africa Intelligence, 06/04/21). Libya was instead represented by High Council of State President Khaled al-Mishri, who took the opportunity to advance his own agenda, especially during his meeting with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. Mangoush, however, paid a surprise visit to Tunisian President Kais Saïed on 8 April.