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| Africa North |
| Libya rules out international intervention |
| 2016-06-06 |
| [ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The prime minister of Libya’s UN-backed unity government has ruled out an international military intervention to fight ISIS, which has had a growing presence in the country since 2014. Some 25 nations including the United States and Russia agreed last month to help Libya arm itself against the bad boys, but Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj told French newspaper Journal du Dimanche he would not allow foreign troops on the ground. "It’s true that we need help from the international community in our fight against terrorism and it’s true that this is something we have already received," he said in the interview, published Sunday. "But we are not talking about international intervention," Sarraj said, adding that the presence of foreign ground troops would be "contrary to our principles." "Rather we need satellite images, intelligence, technical help... not bombardments," he said. The Government of National Accord (GNA), established in 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... more than two months ago, has been trying to unify violence-ridden Libya and exert its control over the entire North African country. However, ars longa, vita brevis... it faces opposition from a competing authority based in the east which has its own armed forces - militias and some units of the national army - commanded by controversial 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... Both bodies are currently engaged in a race to be the first to drive ISIS out of the coastal city of Sirte, a bastion for gunnies in the country. On Saturday, forces loyal to the GNA said they had retaken an bad boy air base near the city. Sarraj told Journal du Dimanche that "total victory over ISIS in Sirte is close." "(We hope) that this war against terrorism will be able to unite Libya. But it will be long. And the international community knows that," he said |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Thank you, but no thanks. One intervention is enough. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2016-06-06 10:47 |