LIBYA, TURKEY, USA

Libya: Turkish Support for GNA Militias Hinders Cessation of Hostilities

Posted by Internationalist 360° on

Libyan parliamentarians are calling on the U.S. administration to intervene to stop Turkish and Qatari support for militias and terrorist organizations that destabilize the Libyan capital.

Ankara is leading the battle in Tripoli against the Libyan National Army under the command of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, which will both fuel and prolong the conflict, contravening efforts of the international community to resume the political process.

Military personnel belonging to the General Command of the Army say that they destroyed all the warplanes that were under the control of the militias of the Government of Al-Wefaq (GoA/GNA) and that they now have only Turkish drones that Ankara is deploying in an effort to move the battle away from Tripoli by targeting the Al-Jafra military base.

Osama al-Jouili, commander of the Joint Operations Room in the Western Region of the Al-Wefaq government, said in a statement that a military aircraft belonging to the chamber bombed Al-Jafra air base at dawn on Friday. The bombing destroyed the hangar and a U.S. 76 cargo plane used to transport munitions and air defense systems.

This operation came after several failed attempts by Turkish warplanes to bomb the strategic Al-Jafra base, most recently on Thursday, where the Libyan army command confirmed that air defense units in Al-Jafra were able to shoot down a Turkish drone belonging to the Misrata air base while it was attempting to bomb army forces.

Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Mesmari, spokesman for the Army General Command, said the drone was monitored and tracked until it entered the sector north of Al-Jafra air base and was destroyed.

The international community is pushing for a ceasefire and the resumption of the political process, averting further fighting in Libya. Last week, the governments of Egypt, France, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States expressed deep concern over the ongoing violence in Tripoli, warning that terrorist groups were exploiting the security vacuum. In a statement issued by the U.S. State Department, the six countries called for an immediate de-escalation in Tripoli and a return to the UN-brokered political process.

Observers believe that the international community’s demand for a cessation of hostilities must be preceded by a firm stance towards Turkish tampering with Libya and they believe that the militias will not yield to the demands of a ceasefire as long as they receive Turkish and Qatari military support.

Libyan army forces said in a statement Wednesday that they had earmarked the delivery of a Turkish arms to Misrata militias at dawn on Tuesday. The Turkish arrangement consisted of sending ammunition and weapons on a special cargo plane through Misrata air port. They added that this was the sixth time that the plane had made this flight, loaded with modern armoured vehicles, ammunition, light and heavy weapons, and Turkish officers.

In May, Ankara sent a Turkish “Antonov” aircraft loaded with drones, and the number of Turkish aircraft destroyed in Libya reached 5, in addition to the destruction of the operating room and control antennas in the Mitiga Base in Tripoli, by the Libyan Army Air Force.

The international community’s silence over Ankara’s violation of the international arms embargo imposed on Libya, although it admits it, is puzzling and surprising to Libyans. The House of Representatives and other political parties supporting the military are betting on a firm U.S. position to stop Turkish tampering with Libya.

Members of Libya’s lower house of parliament called on the U.S. administration to intervene to stop Turkish and Qatari support for militias and terrorist organizations that are operating in Tripoli. There is currently a delegation consisting of eight members of the Libyan Parliament (Hamid Houma, Nasreddine Mhenni, Sultanate of Al-Masmari, Ali Al-Takbali, Talal Al-Mehoub, Zayed Heda, Sabah Juma and Youssef Al-Aqouri) on a remarkable visit in terms of its political significance and timing, which also coincided with the intensification of fighting in Tripoli.

سلطنة المسماري: هناك اعتراف أميركي بدور الجيش في محاربة الإرهابThe visit began three days ago. A member of the  delegation, MP Oman al-Masmari, said in a telephone conversation from Washington, D.C., that their purpose is to explain the situation in Libya to U.S. officials and convince them of the need to intervene through the UN Security Council to stop Turkish and Qatari support for militias and terrorism in Libya.

She stressed that the delegation handed U.S. officials documents confirming the involvement of Turkey and Qatar in supporting terrorism and chaos in Libya, and  discussed the need for U.S. intervention to prevent Turkey’s violation of the resolutions banning the arming of militias and forces loyal to the Government of Al-Wefaq headed by Fayez Sarraj.

She said that the delegation participated in an important  meeting on Thursday evening at the U.S. State Department, in the presence of the Deputy Secretary of State for Maghreb Affairs and the official in the North Africa and Middle East and an official from the National Security Council at the White House, in addition to to a White House energy adviser.

Prior to that, the delegation met with a number of U.S. senators and deputies, during which it was stressed that “the Libyan file should be returned to the UN Security Council,  as when it gave legitimacy to the current Libyan Presidential Council headed by Al-Sarraj, it was to achieve a number of objectives. The most important was the implementation of the security arrangements contained in the political agreement, but al-Sarraj instead embraced the militias and made them his army,” she said.

The international community’s demand for a cessation of hostilities must be preceded by a firm attitude towards Turkish tampering with Libya, which no longer needs clarification, and they believe that the militias will not yield to the demands of a ceasefire as long as they receive Turkish and Qatari military support.

“The UN Security Council, regional and international powers, including America, must reconsider the legitimacy of the current presidential council and move towards cooperation with the General Command of the Army led by Field Marshal Haftar to eliminate extremists,” she said.

She stressed that the delegation, during its meetings with U.S. officials,  called for strengthening cooperation between the Pentagon and the General Command of the Libyan Army, and intensifying the exchange of information regarding the war on terrorism, pointing out in this context the existence of an “American understanding of the importance of what the army is doing in the fight against terrorism.”

Observers believe that the movement of the Libyan parliamentary delegation in Washington is very important at this time when the military operation in Tripoli has entered a new phase characterized by the increasing flow of weapons, equipment, Turkish and Qatari militias and political Islam organizations for whom the Sarraj government is a functional instrument.

This situation prompted the speaker of the Libyan parliament, Chancellor Akila Saleh, to say in press statements that his country “has been subjected for years to a conspiracy carried out by Turkey, Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood, which installed Fayez al-Sarraj as president of the presidential council.”

“We have repeatedly asked Al-Sarraj to abandon the Brotherhood and Tripoli militias, but he refused,” he said, adding that at that point, “Turkey’s intervention in Libya in favour of the Brotherhood, became clear.”

Al-Arab