The former mayor of Al-Awata Municipality has been placed on remand detention for allegedly embezzling more than half a million dinar, which the municipal council of Al-Awata received in 2019 for hosting IDPs from southern Tripoli.

An assault in April 2019 launched by Khalifa Haftar, a UAE-, Egypt- and Russia-backed warlord, forced hundreds of families to seek shelter in nearby cities.

The Government of National Accord (GNA), which was controlling the western part of the country, allocated money to several municipalities affected by the flow of IDPs, including Al-Awata.

A statement by the Public Prosecution said that investigations led by the Anti-Corruption Prosecution in South Tripoli produced evidence that the mayor of Al-Awata and the comptroller had misappropriated 549,000 dinars from the budget allocated by the authorities to support the IDPs.

The mayor and the comptroller are facing charges of embezzling public money and forging official and customary documents, according to the statement.