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Africa North

Libya's Presidential Council condemns mass killings in Tarhouna

2019-09-16

[Libya Observer] The Libyan Presidential Council (PC) has condemned mass killings in Tarhouna and accused criminal gangs loyal to Khalifa Haftar

...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, 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, so it's kind of hard to describe him as a Qadaffy holdover. 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 forces of committing the crime.

The PC said in a statement on Sunday that the criminal gangs had killed in cold blood tens of residents in Tarhouna.

"This coward crime amounts to a genocide. We vow to bring all those responsible for the atrocity to justice." The PC said.

It called on the international community and Security Council sanctions committee to take strict measures toward such crimes, urging the UNSMIL to probe the incident.

The crime was also condemned by Tarhouna Protection Force of the Libyan Army under the command of Presidential Council's government, holding Kanyat militia, backed by Haftar, accountable for it.

The force said scores were killed, including a member of the Tarhouna municipality and two members of the city's elders' council.

It also called on the residents of the city to side with the right against wrong and on the UNSMIL to document the crime in order to try the perpetrators at the International Criminal Court.

Media sources said that Kanyat militia in Tarhouna killed in a mass murder about 50 people, including Haftar's opponents and February revolution figures.

Posted by:Fred

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