COMMANDER HAFTAR SIGNALS START OF LIBYAN RACE FOR POWER

As interim government deal expires, field marshal attacks administration and warns of ‘dangerous phase’ ahead

Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar yesterday declared that the UN-backed unity government’s mandate had expired and hinted that he could stand for president.

A UN-brokered agreement signed in Morocco on December 17, 2015, established Libya’s Government of National Accord for one year, renewable only once.

“All bodies resulting from this agreement automatical- ly lose their legitimacy, which has been contested from the first day they took office,” Field Marshal Haftar said.

He said the expiry of the agreement marked a “historic and dangerous turning point” for the country.

The government, based in Tripoli, was meant to be established as the central authority in Libya to end years of political chaos and violence after the overthrow of Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.

But a rival government in the country’s east has refused to endorse it.

Field Marshal Haftar, whose Libyan National Army controls large areas of the country, supports the eastern government, while the unity government is backed by militias in Tripoli.

The commander dismissed UN-led attempts to bring together the two administrations, saying they had amounted to nothing but “ink on paper”.

“We declare very clearly that we will fully obey the orders of the free Libyan people and no one else,” Field Marshal Haftar said.

He and the unity government’s prime minister, Fayez Al Sarraj, held direct talks this year in Abu Dhabi and Cairo before signing a peace deal in Paris in July under which they agreed to hold national elections next year.

Libyan parties met in Tunis in September to discuss a set of amendments to the Libyan Political Agreement – the deal struck in 2015 – before a national reconciliation conference convened under the auspices of the UN next year to set a road map for a constitution, institutional reforms, government power structure and elections.

The UN’s special representative to Libya, Ghassan Salame had told the Security Council last month that “I am quite confident we are close to a consensus”, following the meetings in Tunis.

Mr Salame said that even though “much progress was made”, a few remaining points had still to be agreed on”.

He yesterday said that Libyans were “fed up with violence” and hoped “for a political solution, for reconciliation and for harmony”.

“I urge all parties to heed their voices and refrain from any actions that could undermine the political process,” Mr Salame said.

The UN Security Council on Thursday insisted that the 2015 deal remained the “only viable framework” to prepare for elections next year.