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Haftar to remain Libyan army General Commander till elections
[Libya Observer] The front man of the Libyan self-styled army Ahmed al-Mismari said Khalifa Haftar ...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, 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...is going to remain in his post as "General Commander of the Libyan army" till elections. Al-Mismari indicated on Wednesday that the only recognizable Supreme Commander of the Libyan army is going to be the elected president. He added that the general command of the self-styled army is trying to consolidate democracy and statehood. He also called on Egypt to continue to tackle the issues of the unification of Libya's military institutions. According to analysts, such a statement is another example for Haftar's intention to carry out a coup against Aqila Saleh who is the Speaker of House of Representatives and east-based Supreme Commander, knowing that the west-based Supreme Commander is the Head of the Presidential Council Fayez al-Sirraj. This is also contradiction by the self-styled army as Haftar was made a General Commander by Saleh, whom al-Mismari said is not recognizable as only elected presidents are to be appointed Supreme Commander. On the other hand, al-Mismari said Green Mountain (Jabal al-Akhdar) Court in eastern Libya delivered 68 verdicts for terrorist suspects, adding that one was sentenced to death, two were tossed in the calaboose ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... and 65 others were exonerated. He did not give more details. I can say no more! about the trials and the names of the suspects. Hundreds of Libyans, including captives from the fighting between 2014 and 2018, are imprisoned by Haftar's forces in east-based jails such as Gernada. Posted by: Fred 2018-11-16 |
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