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Head of Libya’s Unity Govt to Meet Rival Army Chief
[AlManar] The head of Libya’s unity government and a rival army chief were to meet in Cairo on Tuesday to find a solution to turmoil in the country, a government official said.The UN-backed Government of National Accord has struggled to assert its authority across the North African country since starting work 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... nearly a year ago. GNA head Fayez al-Sarraj and Marshal 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... were due to meet on Tuesday afternoon in the Egyptian capital, the official said, without providing further details on the agenda. Haftar, whose forces control much of Libya’s east, is backed by a parliament based in the far east of the country that has refused to recognize the unity government. Sarraj met Haftar in January last year in the eastern city of al-Marj shortly after he was named GNA head. The UN-brokered agreement that created the unity government did not give Haftar a role in the new administration, but the Egypt-backed strongman made clear he was a key player when he seized control of major oil terminals in the country’s east in September. UN envoy Martin Kobler last week said talks had made progress on "possible amendments" to the political agreement, and notably on Haftar’s future role. Posted by: trailing wife 2017-02-15 |
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