News / North Africa

Libya’s GNA says no more talks with Haftar

Wednesday, 15 April 2020 5:55 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 15 April 2020 5:56 PM ]

Fayez al-Sarraj, the prime minister of Libya's UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA), speaks during a press conference in the capital Tripoli on April 13, 2020. (Photo by AFP)

The Prime Minister of Libya's UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) says he would not negotiate with renegade General Khalifa Haftar over a political solution to the Libyan conflict due to the “crimes” he has committed.

“I will never sit down (at the negotiating table) with Haftar after the disasters and crimes he committed against all Libyans,” Fayez al-Sarraj said in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica published on Wednesday.

Since 2014, Libya has been divided between the Tripoli-based government and a camp in the eastern city of Tobruk, supported militarily by Haftar’s rebels.

Haftar has been receiving support from the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, and his forces have been fighting to capture Tripoli since April last year.

“We had agreed [to] the ceasefire and the humanitarian truce. We expected that Haftar would keep his word even for once due to the dangers of the coronavirus epidemic. But he saw the pandemic as an opportunity to attack us,” the premier said.

He added that Haftar’s forces have bombed Tripoli indiscriminately, targeting residential areas, civil institutions and even the general hospital in the city center.

The North African country plunged into chaos in 2011, when a popular uprising and a NATO intervention led to the ouster, and later killing, of long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

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