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| Africa North |
| 18 Dead in Fierce Clashes in Libya's Benghazi |
| 2014-10-18 |
| [AnNahar] At least 18 people were killed in fierce festivities Friday between Islamist groups and forces loyal to the army and an ex-general in Libya's second city of Benghazi, hospital sources said. Benghazi Medical Center said the dead were mostly soldiers and civilians fighting alongside the army in the central district of Al-Majouri. On Wednesday, forces of retired 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... , backed by army units, launched what he called an operation to "liberate" Benghazi from Islamist militias that control the eastern city. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |