BENGHAZI, Libya, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Awad Barasi, citing dissatisfaction with the Libyan government's response to recent assassinations and attacks, has resigned as second deputy prime minister.
Barasi did not inform Prime Minister Ali Zeidan ahead of his weekend news conference in Benghazi announcing his decision to leave the government post, the Libya Herald reported Sunday.
The newspaper said the Libyan news agency LANA reported Zeidan said he accepted the resignation.
The Herald noted there had been media reports in the spring that Barasi intended to resign but Zeidan had talked him out of it. The usually highly visible Barasi had been keeping a low profile since the end of April, the Herald said.
That's about the time when the Foreign Affairs and Justice ministries were besieged by militants, many of them allegedly associated with the Muslim Brotherhood and Barasi's Justice and Construction Party, demanding lawmakers pass the Political Isolation Law, the newspaper noted.
The Herald said speculation was rife about why Barasi stepped down now, with some saying he might be positioning himself to run for prime minister and others viewing it as an attempt to distance himself from the Brotherhood.
