Warlord orders troops to march on Tripoli
A renegade Libyan general brought the country to the verge of civil war yesterday after ordering his forces to overthrow the government. Gen Khalifa Haftar’s instruction to his self-styled Libyan National Army to march on Tripoli resulted in Fayez al-serraj, the prime minister, mobilising his own forces to defend the capital, authorising air strikes if necessary. António Guterres, the UN Secretary General, expressed concern as he arrived in Tripoli for talks.
LIBYA was on the brink of fully-fledged civil war yesterday after a renegade general defied the United Nations by ordering his forces to march on Tripoli and overthrow the country’s internationally recognised government.
In a radio address to his self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) yesterday, General Khalifa Haftar ordered a “victorious march” on the capital to “shake the lands under the feet of the unjust bunch”. “Tripoli, we hear your call,” he said in the address.
Fayez al-serraj, prime minister of the Tripoli-based government, mobilised his forces and authorised air strikes if necessary to halt any assault on the capital. He is backed by a powerful group of militias who control the western city of Misrata, who said they were ready to fight Gen Haftar’s forces.
The general’s attempt to end Libya’s internal conflict by force came just hours after Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary General, arrived in Tripoli for talks with Mr Serraj before a national reconciliation conference planned for this month.
Mr Guterres said there was “no military solution” to the country’s eightyear conflict and added: “There can be no national conference in these circumstances.”
Libya has been divided between rival armed groups since Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown in 2011. The main centres of power are Mr Serraj’s government in Tripoli and a rival administration run by Gen Haftar based in the eastern city of Benghazi.
The general has recently consolidated control over large parts of the country’s south. He enjoys strong backing from Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, who see him as a potential secular leader who could restore order to the war-torn country and defeat Islamist insurgents there. Critics see him as a would-be dictator in the mold of Gaddafi.
Russia and some Western countries, notably France, have also lent Gen Haftar support while simultaneously continuing to back Mr Serraj.
The rival leaders met in Abu Dhabi last month to discuss a power-sharing agreement and were expected to announce a deal paving the way for national elections at the UN’S Libyan National Conference on April 14 to 16.
But there were skirmishes between their forces on Wednesday after the LNA said it had sent units westwards.
The LNA claimed yesterday it had taken control of Gharyan, 50 miles south of Tripoli, although that was disputed by some witnesses who said its troops had bypassed the town.
Analysts say it is unclear whether Gen Haftar has the military capacity to seize western Libya by force. Most of his recent gains in the south have been achieved by cutting deals with local militias. Some western cities field formidable militias with heavy weapons and “would be a different type of resistance entirely”, said Tim Eaton, a Libya expert at Chatham House. “They will fight,” he added. “It is difficult to see Haftar rolling into a place like Tripoli unless he has cut deals already.”