Libyan Gen. Haftar rejects UN-backed govt
benghazi — A powerful Libyan general whose forces recently captured several key oil facilities has rejected a UN-brokered government and said the country would be better served by a leader with “high-level military experience.”
In a series of written responses to questions from The Associated Press this week, Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar said his army only recognises the authority of the Libyan parliament based in the east, which has also rejected the UNbacked government in the capital, Tripoli.
Libya was plunged into chaos by the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi, and for the last two years has been split by rival authorities based in the far east and in Tripoli, in the west. The two sides are deeply divided on Haftar’s future role in the country. In the east, he is seen as the kind of strong, experienced military leader who can defeat Islamic extremists and restore order to the oil-rich North African country. In the west, where powerful Islamist militias hold sway, he is seen as remnant of the Gaddafi government — which he once served — and an aspiring strongman.
Haftar said little to put such fears to rest.
He cited generals who went on to lead Western nations, as well as President Abdel-Fattah El Sissi in Egypt, who led the military ouster of an elected Islamist president in 2013 and has presided over a sweeping crackdown on dissent. GENEVA — Libya is facing “political impasse” and “hazardous military developments”, the UN envoy to the North African country Martin Kobler warned on Tuesday, highlighting the impact of violence on civilians. The country has been ravaged by unrest since the
“Military people who were elected to lead their country achieved remarkable success,” Haftar said.
Asked if he intended to seek the highest office, Haftar demurred, saying the country first needed security, political and social stability, and that he would not answer the fall and death in 2011 of dictator Muammar Gaddafi and has also seen the Daesh group establish a foothold. “Unfortunately, we are now facing a political impasse,” Kobler told a meeting of the UN’s Human Rights Council in Switzerland. — question until that was achieved.
The United Nations-backed government is led by a presidential council headed by Fayez Serraj, an independent technocrat. It was supposed to present a new Cabinet to parliament for approval after lawmakers rejected the last one in August, but has yet to do so. —
Country facing political impasse: UN envoy