| Submit your comments on this article |
| Africa North |
| West reaffirms support for Presidency Council ‘as the sole legitimate government of Libya’ |
| 2016-12-25 |
| [Libya Herald] On the eve of Libya’s Independence Day today, seven leading international supporters of the Presidency Council (PC) ‐ La Belle France, Germany, Italia, Spain, the UK and the US ‐ issued a statement yesterday praising it for its efforts to rebuild prosperity, security and a united governance to Libya, and for defeating the so-called Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... in Sirte, The PC, the six said, had their "full support", as did the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA). They also spoke of the Government of National Accord produced by the PC as "the sole legitimate government" of Libya and of the need for other countries to cease all contacts with parallel institutions outside the LPA. The group also condemned threats to use military forces to capture 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... ‐ a pointed reference to the recent announcement by the Libyan National Army that it would take the capital. Differences had to be resolved through dialogue and reconciliation, the six insisted. Welcoming the PC’s 2017 budget approval, the statement called on all the country’s financial institutions to fully cooperate with the PC so that "the country’s legitimate executive authority" could implement economic policies that would address the most urgent needs of Libya’s people. The reference to the country’s financial institutions fully cooperating with the PC is seen as referring to the Central Bank of Libya which has been blocking funds to the GNA and the PC. The six also called on the PC "to strengthen its internal cohesion and tackle with renewed determination the multiple security, economic, and social emergencies facing Libya today, first among them building a secure environment." All military forces, it said, had to be under civilian oversight ‐ a renewed clear rejection of Field Marshal 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 objectives of the military running the country. As to the planned Presidential Guard, the PC needed to speed up its plans to create and deploy it. Despite speaking of the GNA as Libya’s sole legitimate government, it has not yet been approved by the House of Representatives, as required under the LPA, and consequently is not legal in Libyan law. |
| Posted by:Fred |