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Al-Sarraj: Haftar is obsessed with gripping power in Libya
[Libya Observer] The Head of the Libyan Presidential Council Fayez al-Sarraj has described 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, so it's kind of hard to describe him as a Qadaffy holdover. 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. Actually, he is, but slowly... as "obsessed with gripping power and doesn't care if Libyans died in war or from Coronavirus." Then again, Sarraj hasn't stepped down either, regardless of the loss of ninety percent of the country. Speaking to Russian news agency Sputnik, al-Sarraj said the Government of National Accord had responded positively to all calls for a ceasefire in Libya but Haftar didn't and continued to violate the truce. Posted by: Fred 2020-04-07 |
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