Libyan Prime Minster fired

TRIPOLI, Libya, March 6 (UPI) -- The Libyan parliament has announced that Prime Minister Shukri Ghanem, an advocate of privatizing state-owned industries, is being moved out.

Ghanem will take charge of the country's oil and gas industry as head of the national oil company, the BBC reports. His replacement is his deputy, Baghdadi Mahmudi, the former health minister and a doctor.

Ghanem's moves in the direction of free market reform made him popular with Libya's business community, but members of parliament were less enthusiastic. He once said that parliament should either fire him or allow him to carry out the reforms he wished.