Imbarek Shamekh ( ar, امبارك عبدالله الشامخ) (sometimes Mubarak Abdallah al-Shamikh or Embarek Shamekh) (born 15 May 1952) is a Libyan

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and bureaucrat. He served as the Secretary-General of General People's Congress of Libya (head of state) from 2009 to 2010. He previously served as

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

from 2008 to 2009, and

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

from 2000 to 2003.

Early life and education

Shamekh was born on 15 May 1952 in

Benghazi Benghazi () , ; it, Bengasi; tr, Bingazi; ber, Bernîk, script=Latn; also: ''Bengasi'', ''Benghasi'', ''Banghāzī'', ''Binghāzī'', ''Bengazi''; grc, Βερενίκη (''Berenice'') and ''Hesperides''., group=note (''lit. Son of he Ghazi ...

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

. He moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and attended college at the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

, where he graduated in 1981 with a degree in engineering.

Career

From February 1982 to March 1984, Shamekh was the Minister of Transportation for Benghazi. From March 1984 until October 1990, he served as Minister of Transportation. He was Governor of

Sirte Sirte (; ar, سِرْت, ), also spelled Sirt, Surt, Sert or Syrte, is a city in Libya. It is located south of the Gulf of Sirte, between Tripoli and Benghazi. It is famously known for its battles, ethnic groups, and loyalty to Muammar G ...

province from October 1990 to December 1992, and the Minister of Housing and Utilities from December 1992 to March 2000. In March 2000, Libya made sweeping changes to its cabinet structure. Twelve ministers were replaced and the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister were replaced. From then until June 2003, Shamekh was Prime Minister (also known as General Secretary of the General People's Committee). Shamekh was President of the Higher Planning Council of Libya from June 2003 until September 2004. From September 2004 to January 2005 he served as the Governor of Benghazi. He served as Deputy Prime Minister March 2008 to March 2009, when he resigned his post to become Secretary-General of

General People's Congress of Libya The General People's Congress ( ar, مؤتمر الشعب العام الليبي, ''Mu'tammar al-sha'ab al 'âmm''), often abbreviated as the GPC, was the national legislature of Libya, during the existence of Muammar Gaddafi's Libyan Arab Jam ...

. In February 2011, during the

Libyan Civil War Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. The ...

, he defected to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Shamekh, Imbarek 1952 births Living people University of Central Florida alumni People from Benghazi Heads of state of Libya Secretaries-General of the General People's Congress Prime Ministers of Libya Government ministers of Libya Libyan Arab Socialist Union politicians Transport ministers of Libya Libyan defectors Libyan emigrants to Egypt