Dubai: Former Libyan general Khalifa Haftar was appointed as army commander for the country’s internationally recognised government yesterday in a decision that may complicate UN talks to end fighting in Libya.
Four years after Muammar Gaddafi’s demise, Libya is mired in a conflict pitting the recognised government against a rival administration set up by an armed faction known as Libya Dawn that took over Tripoli last summer.
The appointment of Haftar, a former Gaddafi ally who later joined the 2011 revolution against the Libyan leader, is likely to stoke tensions with the Tripoli government, which sees his rise as a sign that the old guard is gaining strength.
“The House of Representatives has appointed General Khalifa Bel Qasim Haftar as top military commander,” said Tarek Saqr Juroushi, deputy head of the defence committee in Libya’s elected parliament.
He said Haftar had been promoted to lieutenant general, adding that he would be sworn in today or tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the Libyan army surrounded the eastern Daesh stronghold of Derna on four sides, Egypt’s state-run Middle East News Agency reports, citing military spokesperson Mohammad Al Hejaai. The Libyan airforce will help clear the route ground troops will use to enter the city.
Operations against Daesh in the eastern city of Benghazi have been delayed as the army defuses bombs planted in homes around city.
Daesh has largely taken control of Derna, Sirte and parts of Benghazi.
On Sunday, rockets hit residential areas in Benghazi, killing at least two people and wounding more than 30 others in continued fighting over the city, officials said. Two administrations, one in the capital and Prime Minister Abdullah Al Thinni’s government in the east, have been battling for power since the armed group Libya Dawn seized Tripoli in July and reinstated lawmakers from a previous assembly.
— With inputs from agencies
