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Serraj predicts defeat of IS, says all are welcome in Libyan army
[Libya Herald] The Libyan army is now pulling itself into an effective fighting force that can defeat the so-called Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... , Presidency Council head Faiez Serraj has said. Misratan-led units were cooperating with members of the Petroleum Facilities Guard from Ajdabiya, he has pointed out, and are moving towards Sirte from either side. "We are sure that the battle and the eradication of Islamic State will be carried out by Libyans," he told Rooters in his second major interview in less than a week. "I think that what was achieved from Ajdabiya to Sirte and from Misrata to Sirte was a good achievement, given the capabilities that the fighters have." Furthermore, he added, no one would be excluded from being part of the Libyan army, so long as they accepted the authority of the central government ‐ meaning his government of National Accord. Serraj also divulged that, so far, his administration had taken no decisions about who would head the Central Bank of Libya, the National Oil Corporation or the Libyan Investment Authority. Instead the aim at present was, as with the army, to unite the rival parallel institutions in Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... and Beida in order to restart oil production and rebuild the economy. It was up to the Libyans, too, to deal with the migrant crisis, he said, but the problem also needed to be addressed in the The emphasis on security, national reconciliation and the economy was much the same as in a far longer interview with the Saudi daily Okaz published on Monday, although in it he added another top priority: getting displaced Libyans home. In the interview, Serraj also rejected suggestions that the Presidency Council was a tool of the Americans, disclosed that he did not fear being assassinated, and that despite the problems that he was optimistic about the future of Libya. In relations to those problems, he said that he had tried to reach out to House of Representatives’ president Ageela Saleh but that although the two had spoken on the phone when both were in Cairo, Saleh had refused to meet him. As to their relationship, he had no personal issues with Saleh, he said, but he had to hold a session of the HoR to approve the GNA. There were problems with Khalifa Hafter as well, he admitted. He had made it clear in his talks with the general in January that the military leadership had to be under the Presidency Council. Subsequent attempts at direct communication with Hafter and his advisers had not worked, he intimated. Posted by: Fred 2016-06-05 |
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