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| Africa North |
| Hafter says he will retire after liberation of Benghazi |
| 2014-10-16 |
| [Libya Herald] Libya's general Khalifa Hafter has said that once his Operation Dignity has liberated Benghazi, he will retire from the military. In a pre-recorded televised message broadcast simultaneously on several Libyan stations Tuesday night, Hafter outlined the achievements since the month of May of Operation Dignity ‐ as he saw them ‐ and promised that "life would return to normal after the coming difficult hours and days". Stating that the national army would launch a major assault in Benghazi on Wednesday to expel Islamist turbans from the area, the general called on residents to take up arms and to rise up against the "terrorists" in one final push to re-take the city. According to Hafter, the government-funded revolutionary brigades had become a threat to national security, leaving him and his colleagues with no other option than to take up arms last spring to "defend the integrity and resources of their homeland". They were well aware of the high price to be paid to achieve that goal, Hafter said. "This war is really against a broad network of gunnies targeting the entire region and sustained with the collaboration of some Libyans," Hafter said. "Through our interrogations of captured fighters, we have learned that we have been fighting a battle of international proportions. Not only are the gunnies being financed and trained using foreign monies, but foreign gunnies have been systematically brought into Libya to kills us," he added. |
| Posted by:Fred |