Tripoli – The Libyan Presidential Council, in its capacity as the supreme commander of the army, announced a ban on military movements in the country except after its approval, after retired Major General Khalifa Haftar sent forces to the south, ahead of the Berlin 2 Conference on Libya, which begins tomorrow, Wednesday.
“It is absolutely prohibited to reposition military units, whatever the nature of their work, or to make any movements of military convoys for any purpose, or to transfer personnel, weapons and ammunition,” the statement of the Supreme Commander of the Libyan army said after Haftar’s movements. Read also The “Libya Stability” initiative… What is the expected Egyptian role? Le Point: This is what the bill for the war in Libya looks like National Interest: Can a Constitutional Monarchy Benefit Libya?
Haftar’s
Analysts and politicians believe that the Presidential Council ignored Haftar’s movements during the last period to prevent any clash with him; This led to the expansion of the retired brigade in his movements, and bypassing the Presidential Council ahead of the Berlin 2 conference, which aims to establish the ceasefire officially in force since October 23, 2020.
Haftar sees no one
A member of the Supreme Council of State, Qassem Dabarz, considered that Haftar is disregarding the orders and instructions of the Presidential Council, dedicating his militias to a lack of respect for the military leadership.
Debars, who is the head of the Security Committee of the Supreme Council of State, told Al Jazeera Net, “The state of Algeria is a neighbor and we have a good relationship with it, and it did not interfere in Libyan affairs, and it was an example of good neighborliness compared to the bad roles of some other neighboring countries.”
He added that the Libyans hoped for the new executive authority after the departure of the Government of National Accord, but added that “unfortunately, after 100 days of taking over the reins of power, we see the war criminal Haftar continue to tamper with the country, preventing the Government of National Unity from exercising its powers and tasks.”
support and approval
For his part, the political analyst, Al-Senussi Ismail, considered that Haftar cannot move with huge military columns without the support of the Russian “Wagner” mercenaries and with Egyptian approval.
Ismail told Al Jazeera Net, “Algeria is concerned about Haftar’s movements on its southern common border with Libya, and there is a belief in Algeria, through the Algerian media, that Egypt is behind these moves to influence the course of the Berlin Conference.”
He added that the Presidential Council had taken a number of important decisions to restore balance and control matters in southern Libya.
He continued, “France and Italy share Algeria’s concern over their oil interests near the southern border of Libya, and the reflection of the situation on regional stability, especially after witnessing Chad’s experience in the attack of armed opposition movements funded by Haftar and his supporters, which resulted in the killing of Chadian President Idriss Deby.”
Ismail indicated that Haftar is expanding, taking advantage of the vacuum provided by the Presidential Council, and said that this confirms that whenever the Presidential Council delays in unifying the military institution, Haftar takes advantage of the factors of time and space to fill the void.
Delay in stopping Haftar
The head of the Astrolabe Center, Abd al-Salam al-Rajhi, believes that the Presidential Council, as the supreme commander of the Libyan army, was too late in curbing Haftar’s provocative moves on the Libyan arena.
Al-Rajhi added to Al-Jazeera Net that “the Presidential Council has been silent over the past period about the maneuvers, military parades and military promotions carried out by Haftar, in violation of the laws according to the Geneva-Tunisia Agreement, which made Haftar persist day after day.”
Al-Rajhi stated that Haftar’s spokespersons – such as Ahmed Al-Mismari and Khaled Al-Mahjoub – do not respect the decisions of the Presidential Council, and they were informed of the ban on the military from going out in the media and traveling without permission, expressing his regret that there was no clear reaction from the Presidential Council.
He stressed that the main defect was in the Geneva Agreement, because those invited to it did not meet in order to end the main problem that Libya suffers from, which is the presence of Haftar.