Libya rescue options: LNA is country’s last resort

Shaimaa Hefzy

Libyan society is trying to pass through the bottleneck phase due to the escalation of armed militia operations supported by multiple parties, most notably Turkey, which has put a number of scenarios before the Libyan National Army (LNA), while the country suffers from the decisions of the Presidential Council in Tripoli, as the economy has been destroyed and the people’s money looted, and it has allied with the militias, harnessing the country’s oil resources to support them while neglecting development.

LNA commander Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar called for Libyans to get around the military establishment and drop the so-called “political agreement”, saying in a televised speech on the occasion of the blessed month of Ramadan that the tragic situation in which the Libyan people are living has reached its climax. He called for dropping the Skhirat Agreement that resulted in the illegal installation of Fayez al-Sarraj’s Government of National Accord (GNA), which was signed in Morocco on January 17, 2015 under the auspices of the United Nations.

“Libyans must delegate the institution they see most fit to lead the next stage and to manage the affairs of the country according to a constitutional declaration in order to pave the way for building a civil state with the expression of free will so as to correct the course and restore matters to normal,” Haftar said, adding that the LNA will continue its struggle until all of Libya is cleared of terrorists.

The proposal to delegate the LNA to address the current situation is viewed as acceptable to the Libyans at a time when there is no other institution capable of bearing the burdens of accumulated failures. This necessitates handing power over to an emergency government operating under the command of the military until a new constitution is drafted.

Libyan MP Saied Amgib praised Haftar’s speech, saying in press statements, “I have announced my full authorization for the General Command of the Army to take over the leadership of the country and to restore matters to normal following the catastrophic failure of the political agreement and all the current political bodies.”

The Democratic Civil Bloc, which includes a group of elite politicians, also announced its full support for the LNA’s mandate to end the country’s crisis.

Sheikh Al-Senussi Al-Haliq, deputy head of the Supreme Council of Libyan Sheikhs and Elders, said that the tribes had been prompted to shut down oil production in order to prevent the flow of money going to mercenaries and militias affiliated to Fayez al-Sarraj’s unconstitutional government.

According to Haliq, the recent Libyan tribal meeting held in the city of Tarhuna brought together nearly 7,000 people from all over the country, giving an explicit mandate for the LNA to continue the war against the militias.

Haliq pledged that all the tribes would take up arms and turn towards Tarhuna in regiments if the militias approached them, because the city is “the safety valve for the Libyan army, which is fighting in Tripoli in order to rid it of the grip of terrorism.”

“We are all united against the occupier,” he added.

LNA spokesman Major General Ahmed Al-Mesmari confirmed on Tuesday, April 21 that militia attacks on the city of Tarhuna had failed, explaining that LNA forces had inflicted heavy losses on the terrorists during the confrontations.