Libya’s UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) yesterday disclosed that the interior minister had been suspended after militia gunmen fired on peaceful protesters last week.

According to the GNA, “Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha has been temporarily suspended” and will face an inquiry “on his statements about the protests and incidents in Tripoli and other cities.”

Bashagha will be questioned on the authorisations and permits granted to the demonstrators, the security arrangements in place, and the “violations committed.”

Note that demonstrations had begun on Sunday in Tripoli, the seat of the GNA, against poor public services and living conditions, and gunmen fired on the crowd. Similar shootings occurred on Monday and Wednesday.

Bashagha who said that gunmen on Wednesday attacked a peaceful demonstration by “firing live ammunition indiscriminately. The gunmen also kidnapped demonstrators, “sowing panic among the population and threatening security and public order”, promised to “protect unarmed civilians from the brutality of a gang of thugs”.

The Human Rights Watch reported that not less than six people were kidnapped from a Tripoli district by a militia overseen by the GNA, and many others were wounded.

Bashagha, in a statement posted on the interior ministry’s Facebook page early on Saturday, said that he was ready to be investigated but demanded that any hearing be broadcast live for the sake of transparency.

Libya has endured nearly a decade of chaos since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted and killed veteran dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

The country’s main military faultline is between forces that back the GNA and those that support eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar, who runs a rival administration. But there are also power struggles within each area.