Jason Ditz / AntiWar.com & Sharif Abdel Kouddous / Washington Post – 2014-05-21 02:29:18
State Dept: US Not Supporting General’s Libya Takeover
Jason Ditz / AntiWar.com
(May 20, 2014) — Given Libyan General Khalifa Hifter’s decades of US (and CIA in particular) ties, the State Department has apparently decided it can’t stay completely mum on his military takeover of parliament.
State Dept. spokeswoman Jen Psaki says that “we do not condone or support” anything Gen. Hifter is doing, including his attack on Libya’s parliament, nor did they play any role in “assisting” the operation. She punctuated that point by insisting “we have not had contact with him recently.”
Psaki went on to say that the State Department supports a resolution through “peaceful means” of the ongoing disputes in Libya, and called on “all parties” to refrain from violence.
US Marines were deployed to Sicily days before Hifter’s actions, anticipating having to evacuate the embassy. On that front, officials say the decision could change “minute by minute,” as casualties in the Tripoli fighting build.
Leader of Libya’s Revolt, Khalifa Hifter, Rules Out Negotiations and Vows to Fight
Sharif Abdel Kouddous / Washington Post
TRIPOLI, Libya (May 20, 2014) — The former general who is leading an armed uprising in Libya said Tuesday that he would not negotiate with his rivals and would instead rely on force to achieve his objectives.
“We see that confrontation is the solution,” Khalifa Hifter said in a telephone interview with The Washington Post from his headquarters in the eastern city of Benghazi. “I do not think talks will work with them,” he said.
On Friday, Hifter launched an offensive in Benghazi against Islamist militias that have been widely blamed for a string of assassinations. As least 70 people were killed and dozens injured in the most intense fighting Libya has seen since the revolt that deposed dictator Moammar Gaddafi three years ago. The assault was followed two days later by an attack on the national parliament by militias loyal to Hifter.
The fighting was a dramatic sign of the central government’s inability to assert control over the country, which has broken up into virtual fiefdoms ruled by militias since the ouster of Gaddafi. The stunning offensive of recent days led by Hifter — a former anti-Gaddafi activist who spent years in exile in Northern Virginia — has prompted militias to choose sides, in what could be a prelude to large-scale clashes.
Hifter and his backers have branded their campaign as a war on terrorism, although a complex web of tribal and local interests and shifting allegiances are also coming into play.
Hifter said he did not recognize the authority of the Islamist-led parliament, known as the General National Congress. “The GNC has been rejected by the people, and its legitimacy has ended. The government is ineffective,” he said, speaking in Arabic.
In an apparent effort to defuse the crisis, the country’s High Election Commission set June 25 as the date for new parliamentary elections, the government news agency LANA reported Tuesday.
The parliament met in secret Tuesday at the waterfront Radisson, one of a handful of top-level hotels in Tripoli. Only 60 of the 200 legislators attended the session, according to Abdullah al-Gmata, one of the lawmakers who was there.
A proposal to postpone a vote on Prime Minister-designate Ahmed Matiq’s cabinet by 10 days was considered, but no action was taken.
Hifter said that he began planning his offensive around a month ago but that there had been discontent among former military officers for more than a year and a half. “We planned it after we saw people being slaughtered in the streets,” he said, referring to the slayings of police officers, judges, lawyers and others in Benghazi.
He said that he saw no quick end to the fighting.
“Operation Dignity is multiple battles; it’s not just one battle,” Hifter said.
He said that his opponents are in residential areas and therefore he would no longer rely on heavy artillery or air power, as his forces had done in the initial Benghazi assault. “It’s going to take some time,” he said.
Hifter said he has not received any support from abroad and had not been in contact with the U.S. government.
Asked whether he was seeking a role in a future government, he said, “Now the only important thing on our minds is security for all our citizens,” adding that his goal was to establish an effective national army and police force.
Hifter’s self-declared Libyan National Army is backed by many former military officers as well as militias tied to the cities of Benghazi, Tobruk and Ajdabiya in the east and Zintan in the west.
Hifter has a long history with the Libyan military; as a young officer, he took part in the 1969 coup that brought Gaddafi to power. He later fought in Libya’s war against Chad before being taken prisoner and turning against the Libyan leader.
On Tuesday, Hifter continued to pick up allies, including a former senior military officer, Maj. Gen. Suleiman Mahmoud, and former prime minister Ali Zeidan.
The Justice and Construction Party, which is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, condemned Hifter’s use of force and called for dialogue “to prevent bloodshed.” Powerful militias in Misurata that are aligned with Islamist parties have said they are prepared to go to the capital.
Ansar al-Sharia, one of the most extreme Islamist groups operating in Benghazi, charged in a statement on Monday night that the offensive was “in reality a war on Islam.”
Hifter denied that the fighting could turn into a civil war. “On the contrary, we have the people with us,” he said.
(The former general’s name has also been rendered as “Haftar” and “Hiftar.” He spelled it “Hifter” on legal documents in the United States.)
Hassan Morajea contributed to this report.
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