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Rift widens between Awaqir tribe and Dignity Operation chief
[Libya Observer] The rift between Awaqir tribe in Benghazi and rogue 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... widened on Monday following the selection of primitive Faraj Egaim as Deputy Minister of Interior in the government of 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... -based Presidential Council. Sources said Egaim agreed to join the Presidential Council, which Khalifa Haftar totally rejects, after a meeting with the head of Presidential Council Fayaz Sirraj. Awaqir tribal leader Hussein Atia told Alnabaa TV that Sirraj has already appointed Egaim as Deputy Minister of Interior at the request of the tribe. He said Awaqir decided to join Sirraj’s government in Tripoli because Abdullah al-Thanni’s government in east Libya is powerless. The tribe has now secured two senior positions in the Tripoli government with the first was for al-Mihdi al-Barghati as Minister of Defense. Faraj Egaim arrived at Benina Airport on Monday (photo below) after a short visit to Tunisia where he had reportedly met with Fayaz Sirraj. The airport saw tight security measures by Awaqir rustics who cordoned off the area following security reports that son of Khalifa Haftar, Saddam, was intending to storm the airport to arrest Egaim. Posted by: Fred 2017-08-30 |
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