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| Africa North |
| Egyptian President says his country supports Haftar self-styled army at all times |
| 2016-11-25 |
| [Libya Observer] The Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, said in an interview aired on Tuesday with Portuguese broadcaster RTP that Egypt's military support always goes for the national army in Libya, referring to the self-styled army of 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... 's Dignity Operation militias. "It is our country's priority to back up national armies, for example in Libya, to assert control over Libyan territories and deal with bully boy elements." al-Sissi said in the interview. He also added that the same goes with Syria and Iraq, implying that he would always support dictators across the region. Egypt has been a key ally for Khalifa Haftar self-proclaimed army since the start of his Dignity Operation in May 2014, giving him, along with the UAE, full military and logistic support, according to the audio leaks published by the British IHS Jane news website. Relatedly, earlier this month, the New Arab published leaked information showing that before the Emirati military base was set up on the ground in al-Marij city, eastern Libya, UAE’s jet fighters backing Haftar forces used to take off from bases in western Egypt. The Egyptian Presidents has, for many times, spoken out his support for the renegade General Khalifa Haftar and his Dignity Operation upon desire to obtain some sort of power in eastern Libya. Khlaifa Haftar, on the second hand, has always reiterated his allegiance to Egyptian army and President, al-Sissi saying he would be in favor of Egypt even if that was against the Libyans' interest. |
| Posted by:Fred |