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| Africa North |
| Libya Haftar forces seek Benghazi port closure to deny arms to Islamists |
| 2014-09-17 |
| [Beirut Daily Star] orces loyal to former Libyan army Gen. 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... in Benghazi threatened to bomb the eastern city's port unless authorities there closed it to cut off arms supplies to Islamists, a senior commander said Monday. Haftar's forces are fighting Islamist groups including Ansar al-Sharia ...a Salafist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends. There are groups of the same name in Libyaand Yemen, with the Libyan versions currently most active. Tunisia's Shabaab al-Tawhid started out an Ansar al-Sharia and changed its name in early 2014. It still uses the old name now and then, probably because the stationery's not all used up and the web site hasn't expired yet... h for control of the port city, which is the main entry point for wheat and other food imports into eastern Libya. Haftar emerged as a renegade commander fighting Islamists but has recently entered into a frail alliance with the government. "We will bomb any ship approaching the coast and hold the port director responsible for it," Saqer al-Jouroushi, Haftar's air defense commander, told Rooters. Ansar al-Shariah had used the port to get ammunition and weapons, he said. Western powers and Libya's neighbors worry the oil producer will turn into a failed state. A weak government has proven unable to control former rebels who helped oust Muammar Qadaffy ...a proud Arab institution for 42 years, now among the dear departed, though not the dearest... in 2011 but now effectively run the country. The government has lost control of the capital 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... to an armed opposition group from the western city of Misrata forcing bigwigs to relocate to Tobruk in the far east. In Benghazi, special forces have allied themselves with Haftar's forces to fend off Islamist snuffies which have overrun several army camps and are trying to seize the civilian and military airports. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Silly Haftar, check the warehouse! |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2014-09-17 23:11 |