Despite the Security Council resolutions calling for laying the constitutional basis for elections and enacting legislation, in accordance with the political roadmap, one of the outcomes of the Geneva Dialogue to give full legitimacy to the Presidential Council in its capacity as the supreme commander of the army and the interim government.
The so-called “Al Karama” militia leader, Khalifa Haftar, continues to confuse the political scene, as he announced today in a confounded statement in which he expressed his conditional willingness to allow the government to hold a meeting in his areas of control under the protection of his militias only.
Haftar confirmed in a statement published in his capacity as Supreme Commander of the Libyan Army that there is no link with the government, whether sovereign, service, or even at the level of communication.
Presidential silence
The Presidential Council, as the Supreme Commander, has remained silent in all of Haftar’s suspicious moves. Haftar is still moving outside the presidential control, as he announced the Libyan army’s support for Egypt in maintaining its security and borders, and also meets with local and international officials at its headquarters in al-Rajma despite Al Manifi’s issuance of a statement this month, obliging and preventing any soldier, regardless of his rank, from holding meetings, or traveling outside the country, except with his permission.
Haftar’s movements
Haftar appointed a new commander for the Ubari and Ghat regions, using the status of Commander in Chief, giving his instructions to monitor and follow up all public facilities and needs and include them in reports sent to him for his perusal, thus removing the powers of the elected municipalities in these cities.
Sirte clashes
Haftar’s militias and his mercenaries are still moving within military build-ups without any deterrent in the eastern and southern regions, the most recent of which was the outbreak of clashes with heavy and medium weapons in the city of Sirte in early April, which resulted in the killing of two and the injury of others in a scene indicating the complete absence of the new authority.
These moves, which are matched by complete silence from the President of the Presidential Council and in his capacity as Supreme Commander, remain a matter of suspicion and fear, especially after international assurances to provide a suitable atmosphere for holding the elections on the scheduled date next December.
