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| Africa North |
| Libyan parliament proposes Haftar to lead army |
| 2015-02-26 |
| I thought we had this a couple days ago, or maybe it was creating the position so he could fill it. [ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The president of Libya's elected parliament has proposed appointing 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... as top army commander, parliament's front man said on Wednesday. The decision shows the increasing influence of military figures in the official government and parliament, which has been forced to operate from eastern Libya since an gang called Libya Dawn ...aka Fajr Libya, the Islamist operation launched to counter that of General Khalifa Haftar (Operation Dignity). It is made up of the Libya Shield militia (Misrata and Moslem Brotherhood), Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room (Moslem Brotherhood), and Tripoli Brigade (close to Abdul Hakim Belhaj, head of Al-Watan party). Financing and moral support come from Turkey and Qatar... seized 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... in summer. "Mr Aguila Saleh [parliament's president] has proposed to appoint Haftar," front man Farraj Hashem told Rooters. "The House of Representatives supports this." He said a decree appointing Haftar would still need to be signed by Saleh, who has quasi-presidential powers. Haftar, an army general, has emerged as would-be strongman in the east, where the internationally recognised prime minister, Abdullah al-Thinni, has been based since losing control of Tripoli. Haftar, who helped Moammer Qadaffy into power before falling out with him in the 80s and joining the 2011 uprising against his rule, has merged his forces with army troops in the east to fight Islamist groups including Libya Dawn?. While the alliance has managed to win back some territory in Benghazi, Haftar has drawn criticism for ordering air strikes on civilian airports and seaports. Critics say Haftar is sidelining Thinni and sees himself as the Libyan version of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the former defence minister who toppled an Islamist president after mass protest to his rule. The rival government controlling Tripoli and much of western Libya accuses Haftar of trying to reinvent the old Qadaffy police state. But the grey-haired general also enjoys some support among normal people frustrated with hardships in the east, where a violent conflict between the two competing governments has made petrol, electricity and medicines scarce. |
| Posted by:Fred |