Libyan commander calls Italy ‘our enemy’
▶ Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar warns against Rome’s support of the government in Tripoli, which the army opposes
Libya’s most powerful military commander has described Italy as an enemy and accused some Libyans of being puppets of the Italian government.
Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, whose Libyan National Army controls the east of the country, also threatened to move on the capital, Tripoli, which has been devastated in recent weeks by militia clashes that killed 63 dead and wounded about 160.
Field Marshal Haftar said there were some people who worshipped Italy despite knowing that Rome “is our enemy”. Italy has thrown its weight behind the UN-backed government in Tripoli, which the army opposes.
The government, led by Fayez Al Sarraj, is seen as weak and unable to control the rampant, institutionalised militias on which it relies.
A ceasefire was agreed last Tuesday between the warring militias.
“Tripoli must be liberated and will not remain in spoiled hands,” Field Marshal Haftar said.
“The armed forces move after accurate calculations. We will move towards Tripoli in the proper time.”
The army has long claimed that it would mount an offensive on the capital when the time was right.
Its forces were not involved in the clashes that battered Tripoli and have largely remained silent until now.
At a Paris conference in May, four of Libya’s power bases agreed to hold presidential elections in December, although an electoral law has yet to be passed.
Mr Al Sarraj and Field Marshal Haftar attended, as did figures from the Libyan Parliament and the State Council, an advisory body.
The commander insisted that his army remained committed to the Paris agreement, but warned that any glitches would lead to action by his forces.
“We fully support elections but they have to be fair elections, because if they’re not the army will act,” Field Marshal Haftar said.
The French and Italian dispute over migration to the EU has spilt over into Libya, with Italy supporting the unity government in Tripoli and France showing sympathy towards Field Marshal Haftar and his forces.
Last week, hardline Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini blamed France for the migration crisis of which Italy has borne much of the European brunt.
Italy also said the French were at fault for the Tripoli clashes because they supported Libyan rebels in the 2011 revolution that toppled the regime of Muammar Qaddafi.
While the uneasy UN-brokered ceasefire agreed between Tripoli’s warring factions last week has largely held, residents of much of the south and west of Libya were hit by power cuts that lasted more than 36 hours.