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| Africa North |
| 'General Hafter is the person who sparked this war' claims Belhaj |
| 2015-02-07 |
| [Libya Herald] Abdul-Hakim Belhaj had pinned the blame for the current political crisis wholly on Khalifa Hafter. The Opration Dignity leader was a criminal for beginning the war currently being waged in Libya, the former head of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) said in an interview published by Euronews. "It started when retired General Khalifa Hafter came back onto the scene, ", he said in a statement in which, bizarrely, he also implied that Hafter had formed the House of Representatives (HoR) in Tobruk. Belhaj considers it illegitimate. Belhaj also asserted that the UAE was supporting Hafter, providing "aircraft, weapons, ammunition and armour to those who are killing the Libyan people". The sole legitimate gang, he said, was 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... . Prime Minister Abdullah Al-Thinni, when he was defence minister, gave Libya Dawn authority, Belhaj maintained. It was now carrying out the orders of the legitimate ruling body--the General National Congress (GNC). Asked about the dialogue talks, Belhaj said he supported them and had called for them, and had himself met with UNSMIL representatives. However, man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them... he did not think the Geneva meetings would be effective because people "far removed from what is influencing politics in Libya" were invited. He did not elaborate further on this. In one of several questions alluding to Belhaj's past as leader of the LIFG, Euronews asked, "Are you a fighter under the guise of a politician?" Belhaj did not directly answer this question, however earlier in the interview he claimed that he was no longer a fighter but a politician and insisted he was not currently leading an gang. |
| Posted by:Fred |