Benghazi, Libya | AFP | Libyan strongman General Khalifa Haftar on Saturday announced a ceasefire in his months-long battle to control the capital Tripoli after calls for a truce from Russia and Turkey. The North African state has seen an escalation of the turmoil that erupted after a NATO-backed uprising killed …
Read More »Haftar’s Sirte seizure major blow to Libya government, analysts say
Tripoli, Libya | AFP | Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar’s capture of the strategic city of Sirte on Monday was a major setback for Tripoli’s UN-recognised government, analysts say. The fresh advance by Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army comes as Turkey deploys troops — 35 so far, in a training capacity — …
Read More »Turkey’s foreign minister visits Algeria over Libya conflict
Algiers, Algeria | AFP | Algeria’s newly-elected President Abdelmadjid Tebboune received Turkey’s foreign minister Tuesday, the official APS news agency reported, days after Ankara confirmed it was deploying troops to Libya. The meeting between Tebboune and Mevlut Cavusoglu focused on Libya’s “escalating violence resulting from foreign interventions, which complicate the search …
Read More »Libya: advances by Haftar’s forces over five years
Tripoli, Libya | AFP | Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar, whose forces on Monday said they had taken control of Sirte, have in over five years conquered northeastern Libya and much of the south. After the ouster and killing of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, Libya plunged into chaos with a …
Read More »Libyan players in Italy for fresh bid to solve crisis
Palermo, Italy | AFP | Libya’s key political players meet with global leaders in Palermo on Monday in the latest bid by major powers to kickstart a long-stalled political process and trigger elections. A summit in Paris in May had seen the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) and eastern …
Read More »Libya strongman says backs 2018 elections
Benghazi, Libya | AFP | Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar has said he will support 2018 elections in the war-torn country but also implied he would seize power if the polls did not occur. Late Thursday, Haftar said presidential and parliamentary elections were “a fundamental solution” to Libya’s crisis and should …
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