Haftar says he will stop hostilities if Turkish mercenaries and soldiers are withdrawn
Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the strongman of eastern Libya, said Friday he was ready to implement a ceasefire if the Syrian mercenaries and Turkish soldiers withdraw from the Arab country. “The ceasefire would be the result of a series of conditions (...) the withdrawal of Syrian and Turkish mercenaries, the cessation of arms supplies to Tripoli by the Turkish side and the elimination of terrorist groups (in Tripoli)”, Haftar said in an interview with the RIA Novosti agency.
According to Haftar, who last Wednesday held consultations in Moscow, which supports him, the UN-recognised National Accord Government (NAG) in Tripoli, led by Fayez Sarraj, together with Turkey, took advantage of the temporary ceasefire to transfer mercenaries from Syria to Tripoli. “The temporary ceasefire is used by Turkey and the Government of al Serraj to move a large number of Syrian mercenaries, Turkish soldiers, terrorists and weapons to Tripoli by sea and air. This is a violation of the ceasefire. We reserve the right to respond to these violations”, he said.
According to him, the ANG is violating the truce and the Libyan National Army (LNA) that he leads is “losing patience”. “Our patience is running out with regard to the repeated violations of the truce by [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan and Sarraj and the failure to comply with Berlin's obligations”, Haftar said.
On 19th January the international allies of the GNA and the LNA agreed in the German capital to implement the ceasefire that had begun a week before on the initiative of Turkey and Russia and the arms embargo decreed by the UN.
The leader of the LNA supported the new EU mission in the Mediterranean which will aim to enforce the arms embargo on Libya. “The EU needs to fulfil its role in controlling the supply of arms to the Syrian and Turkish terrorist mercenaries who were transferred to Tripoli via Turkey. We support the presence of European maritime patrols that will prevent Turkey from continuing to supply arms and send mercenaries to Tripoli”, he said.
Haftar also accused Sarraj of suspending his participation in the Geneva talks this week in response to the bombing of the port of Tripoli by the LNA on “orders” from Turkey and Qatar, the latter of which also supports the LNA.
The marshal said, however, that the LNA is open to all peace initiatives that could achieve security and stability on Libyan soil and that it supports the actions of the UN special representative for Libya, Ghassan Salame.
