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Haftar Set on Opposing Sarraj Government
[Asharq al-Aswat] Libyan General Khalifa Haftar... served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all... said, in a statement, that his country needs a leader possessing a wide military experience, and expressed again rejection of the U.N.-backed Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA). La Belle France, for its part, announced that it will host a meeting on Libya next week. Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault announced that the upcoming meeting on Libya would bring together countries including Egypt, Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates... , the United Arab Emirates and ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... "The Libyan National Army does not recognize any authority other than that of the parliament which is headquartered in Tobruk," Haftar told the News Agency that Dare Not be Named. When asked if he aims to take over the power in Libya, Haftar said he refuses to answer this question until social, security and political stability is settled in the country. "Unfortunately, we are now facing a political impasse," the U.N. envoy to the North African country Martin Kobler stated during a meeting of the U.N.’s Human Rights Council in Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... "At the same time, Libya is witnessing the unfolding of dangerous military developments," Kobler said. "The risk of increased tensions in the capital should not be underestimated," he added. He said that in Libya’s second city Benghazi in the east, "more than 100 families are currently trapped in areas of fighting, facing constant bombing and shortages of food, medical care and electricity." Posted by: Fred 2016-09-30 |
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