Misrata Military Council announces all brigades under its control to join "Libyan Army"

The Misrata Military Council (MMC) announced that all brigades under its control will join the Central Military Zone of "the Libyan Army".

No detailed explanation of what exactly the Central Military Zone group is supposed to be is given except to describe it as forces in much of western Libya loyal to the UN-brokered Government of National Accord(GNA) and its Presidency Council (PC). The Libyan Army is opposed to the Libyan National Army(LNA) associated with the rival House of Representatives (HoR) in the east. The LNA is commanded by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.

The Council appears anxious to create a unified GNA army as a rival to Haftar's LNA. The group has been critical of the GNA for not taking a strong stance against the LNA and Haftar as noted in a recent DJ article. In the announcement the LNA is described as "private protection units and militias". Haftar is described as a "rogue general" even though he is now a Field Marshall and appointed commander by the HoR government.

Many of the brigades of the Misrata Military Council took part in the Al-Bunyan al-Marsous(BAM) military offensive that liberated Sirte recently during an 8-month battle during which 700 fighters died. The offensive helped forge the MMC into a relatively structured fighting force as is the LNA. The Third Force deployed in southern Libya would also logically be part of the Libyan Army. Presidency Council deputy chair Ahmed Maetig spoke positively about various militias being absorbed into a single army. One of the continuing problems is that the GNA has depended upon various militias for security. There have been constant clashes and many militia have their own agendas that can sometimes conflict with that of the GNA.

A Presidential Guard was formed last May but most of the group defected to those from the former Salvation Government attempting a coup and who are occupying the Rixos hotel complex in Tripoli. This happened last October! Maetig was also scathing in his criticism of Haftar and the LNA. The UN envoy to Libya Martin Kobler has been adamant that Haftar must play a role in a new GNA government. Unless, Kobler is able to offer Haftar terms that he accepts, it is unlikely that the HoR will ever vote confidence in the GNA as required under the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA).

The Libya Observer also covers the same announcement and also says that the aim is to unite the most powerful armed brigades under one command and would take place according to the laws in force of the Libyan National Army. A military source said:“This action could be described as a reaction and attempt to reinstate an authentic version of a military institution, which is universally known to have loyalty to God and country, not private protection units and militias similar to those employed by rogue General Khalifa Haftar and his predecessor Gadaffi before him."The Libyan Express also reported on the announcement.

Prime Minister designate of Government of National Accord meets Khalifa Haftar

A recent meeting, last Saturday, between General Khalifa Haftar, commander in chief of the Libyan National Army and Faiez Serraj, Prime Minister designate of the UN-brokered Government of National Accord(GNA) has created serious divisions with the GNA.

Faiez met with Haftar at his headquarters in Marj. The fallout from the meeting is still building. Today, Mohammed Al-Emmari suspended his membership in the GNA to protest the visit. Haftar not only is commander of the LNA but also heads Operation Dignity that was started in May of 2014 and is designed to rid Libya of all Islamists including those associated with one of two rival governments, the General National Congress(GNC) located in Tripoli in western Libya. Many in the GNC regard him as a war criminal as he served for many years in the Gadaffi government before turning against him and working to overthrow his regime. Haftar spent a long period of exile in the United States.

Ahmed Mietig, one of the Deputy Prime Ministers and part of the Presidency Council also criticized Faiez' visit, claiming that his visit represented only himself and not the Presidential Council. Mietig said: "We have been in touch with Mr. Fayaz Sirraj until late at night but he did not inform us of his intention to conduct this visit.” Obviously, Faiez only consulted with certain members of the Presidency Council and did not get any formal authorization for the visit. One wonders if the UN suggested he make the visit. Reports do not say whether Haftar invited Serraj or the other way around. Note that Serraj had to go to Haftar's headquarters. Haftar did not travel to meet with Serraj. The same was the case in the visit of Martin Kobler, Special Representative of the Secretary-General(SRSG) to Libya when he also visited Haftar.

GNC dialogue member, Abdul-Rahman Al-Swaihli demanded Faiez resign immediately and said: “Haftar does not have any official position in Libya and is considered an outlaw, so Sirraj’s visit to him constitutes a serious setback in the national accord and thus leads to the escalation of the conflict.” Haftar does have an official position in the internationally-recognized government, the House of Representatives(HoR) based in Tobruk. The Prime Minister of the HoR appointed Haftar as commander in chief of the Libyan National Army(LNA). Al-Swaihli's claim is based on the fact that the GNC does not recognize the HoR.

Fathi Agha, an HoR member, but who along with many others has boycotted meetings, claimed that the meeting violated Serraj's authority and provoked anger among some members of the Presidential Council. Even more significant was the criticism of Ashrf Shih, who is the political adviser to those from the GNC who signed on to the LPA at Skhirat on December 17th last year. Shih regarded Serraj's visit as a violation of the LPA and suggested that Serraj's position in the Presidency Council should be changed as a result of his visit:"Fayez Al-Sirraj is a liar and is not up to the level he is required to be, so if he was serious about the visit’s aim, then Haftar should have visited him and requested meeting him, but it is weird how Al-Sirraj went to Haftar’s office and sat down without even chairing the meeting.”Haftar likes to show who is boss.

Finally, Abdurazzak Al-Aradi, a member of the Justice and Construction Party who supports the LPA and GNA also criticized Serraj. The Justice and Construction Party is the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Libya. The party supports the LPA and GNA but many members reject it. The visit of Serraj to Haftar will cause even more members to reject the view of their leaders that the GNA will protect them from Haftar. Al-Aradi claimed that the Serraj visit to Haftar might destroy the legitimacy of the Presidential Council and threaten the whole LPA.

Certainly the action will result in more conflict between Haftar supporters in the GNA and those from the GNC who are within the GNA but oppose Haftar. It appears more and more likely that some sort of deal is being worked out with Haftar. In spite of all that Haftar has done to disrupt the peace process the UN has said nothing critical about him and Martin Kobler himself also had a meeting with Haftar. The HoR has to meet again and give a vote of confidence in the GNA and approve the LPA within a few days. We will know then whether the UN and the Presidency Council have given assurances that Haftar will keep his job. If there is a deal then the vote of confidence will probably pass. If there is no deal it wont.

UN Special Envoy to Libya meets with General Khalifa Haftar seeking a deal to approve GNA

The internationally-recognized Libyan government, the House of Representatives (HoR) wants guarantees that General Khalifa Haftar, the commander-in-chief of the Libyan National Army (LNA) keep his job before they will vote confidence in the GNA.

The GNA is the UN-brokered Government of National Accord. The GNA results from the Libyan Political Agreemen t(LPA) signed on December 17 by members of the Libyan Political Dialogue, a group set up to negotiate a peace agreement between the two rival governments. Besides the HoR there is a rival General National Congress (GNC) located in Tripoli in the west, while the HoR is in the east in Tobruk. Neither of the two parliaments agreed to a draft LPA. Martin Kobler, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) in Libya, gathered together members of the Dialogue who supported the UN draft LPA including some members of the GNC and HoR and had them sign the draft. These members were not authorized to sign by their respective parliaments. The agreement immediately attracted international support including a resolution in the UN Security Council.

The GNA wastwo days past the deadline before it was announced. Four meetings of the HoR were held in which there was no quorum and hence no vote of confidence in the GNA. When a vote finally was held, the GNA was soundly rejected as having too large a cabinet. The Presidency Council of the GNA is to present a new smaller list of cabinet names within 10 days. The LPA was approved but only if section 8 of the LPA is deleted. Section 8 gives the power of commander in chief to the Presidency Council, not Khalifa Haftar. Actually, there is an addition to this section in the additional provisions which gave the power of commander in chief of the LNA to the Presidency Council on December 17 the date of the LPA signing. Everyone dutifully ignores this section and it has been violated for over a month now.

Somehow a deal must be made for Haftar to relinquish his position. Kobler points out that there can be no amendments to the LPA until after the GNA term has begun. This means the HoR has to pass the LPA as it is before any attempt to amend it. However, the HoR is unlikely to approve the GNA without an agreement that section 8 will not come into force. The GNC members who signed the LPA will never agree to Haftar being commander in chief of the LNA.

No doubt in an attempt to arrange some type of deal the Prime Minister-designate of the GNA. Faiez Serraj, flew to Haftar's headquarter in Marj for talks with Haftar. No communique was issued after the talks. Kobler had met with Haftar some time ago as well. Serraj brought along two of his deputy ministers including Ali Gatrani who earlier had suspended his membership in the GNA. Haftar had his close ally Air Force commander Saqr Geroushi and the army chief of staff Major-General Abdul Nazhuri with him. After the talks, Serraj and his party flew back to Tunis where the Presidency Council is working on a new list of cabinet members.

The pro-GNC Libya Observer also reports on the Serraj meeting with Haftar. The Observer claims the meeting angered Abdul-Rahman Al-Swalhi a GNC member who is in favor of the GNA. He demanded Serraj submit his resignation for meeting Haftar, whom Al-Swalhi called a war criminal. Haftar was part of Gadaffi's original coup and a senior commander in his armed forces until Gadaffi abandoned him after he was imprisoned in Chad with many of his troops in a failed war.In 1987, he became a prisoner of war during the war against Chad. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Gaddafi. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining U.S. citizenship.

Al Swahili said the LPA would collapse if its articles such as article 8 were violated. The LPA has been violated many times already and the LPA still exists but Al-Swahili is probably correct that if Hafter remains as commander-in-chief of the LNA, then the GNA will collapse.

Another critic of the meeting of Serraj with Haftar was Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Mietig from Misrata. Mietig said on his official Facebook account: "We have been in touch with Mr. Fayaz Sirrja until late at night but he did not inform us of his intention to conduct this visit, thus this visit does not represent the Presidency Council." Mietig also made it clear that article 8 cannot be frozen or deleted in any way. If this happened it would deepen divisions within the already fragmented Presidency Council. He also said the LPA is in force and that the Presidency Council is not concerned with the abolition of article 8. Mietig and all the other GNA members apparently didn't notice that section 8 in the additions section of the LPA took away Haftar's job on December 17. I can't believe the GNC members within the GNA could be that incompetent that they did not even bother to read what is in the LPA they signed. They must have been assured that when the HoR had approved the GNA Haftar would at that time lose his job as was in the original section 8 while section 8 in the additional provision of the LPA take away his job back on December 17th:The Additional Provisions section 8 reads in part: Article (8)All powers of the senior military, civil and security posts stipulated in the Libyan legislations and laws in force shall be transferred to the Presidency Council of the Council of Ministers immediately

upon signing this Agreement. .

In a recent article, I indicated the almost hopeless dilemma that the UN and the GNA face, the Libya Observer concurs: No one can imagine how the UNSMIL, the sponsor of Skhirat agreement, would settle Khalifa Hafter's dilemma. Last week, Tobruk Parliament rejected the proposed cabinet of UN-imposed government and requested that article 8 of the political agreement must be deleted in order to give the cabinet a vote of confidence. Pro-Khalifa Haftar tribes in the east also declared Haftar red line and confirmed that his military post is non-negotiable.On the other hand, anti-Khalifa Haftar members of the Presidency Council, and others from the GNC camp who signed Skhirat agreement along with agreement supporters in Misrata and Tripoli, are demanding that Haftar must be out; otherwise, the political agreement would not see the light.

Meanwhile, the Saudi newspaper Alyaum said that it had been trying to obtain an interview with Haftar for six months. Haftar claimed he would liberate Benghazi within days but he has been saying that for months if not years. He began Operation Dignity back in May of 2014 with attacks on Islamist bases in Benghazi. Some are still there and much of the city is in ruins from the battle. After Benghazi, Haftar will take Sirte and then liberate Misrata and the rest of the west held by GNC forces. Haftar said that the Serraj must support the army he is leading and must not enlist the help of foreign powers. If the Serraj government did not do this, then he would fight it just as he fights terrorism. Haftar also criticized the GNA for appointing Al-Mahdi Al-Burghati as defense minister, even though he is one of the senior leaders of the Operation Dignity that Haftar heads and initiated. This shows splits even within those who formerly supported Haftar. In spite of supposedly rejecting any foreign intervention Haftar welcomes any kind of Egyptian intervention. It would seem that Haftar must have approved as well the presence of a number of foreign special forces in eastern Libya. He has made no complaint about them. Stay tuned, as Haftar said to the paper: “I promise all those who support me that a very pleasing surprise awaits them in the coming days.” Is the fix in? If it is, and Haftar is to remain as commander of the LNA, the GNA will need to somehow manage without any contingent from the GNC.

The rebranding of CIA-linked General Khalifa Haftar in Libya

The internationally recognized Libyan government of prime minister Abdullah al Thinni has now reconciled with CIA-linked former general Khalifa Haftar.

With the blessing of the government Haftar has been carrying out a number of bombings in Tripoli, Benghazi, and elsewhere. Now the House of Representatives(HoR) in Tobruk according to a report in the Libya Herald is about to appoint Haftar as Commander-in-Chief of the Libyan army. Within the next few days a formal decision will be announced. Even within the anti-Islamist dominated HoR however there is opposition with 30 members expressing reservations about Haftar's recent reinstatement into the Libyan army and even questioning the legality of his Operation Dignity attacks against extremists in the east of Libya. The Libya Herald reports: A group of 30 members of the Libyan House of Representatives (HoR) have signed a petition saying that they do not support the efforts to fight terrorism in eastern Libya by retired General Khalifa Hafter’s Operation Dignity . This shows that opposition to Haftar exists not only within the more-Islamist oriented government in Tripoli but also within the pro-Haftar government as well.

Prime Minister Al-Thinni with John Kerry

 The prime minister of the Tobruk government Abdullah al-Thinni was not always favorable towards Haftar. He was defense minister during Haftar's first coup attempt on Feb. 14 this year. Haftar went on TV and announced he had suspended the Gneral National Congress(GNC), the government and the Constitutional Declaration. Al-Thinni was hardly supportive then: Libyan Defence Minister Abdullah Al-Thinni, responding to the declaration, claimed that Haftar's claim to forces loyal to him being in Tripoli was a lie, and also alleged that Haftar had no legitimacy. Thinni also reiterated that there was a warrant out for Haftar's arrest on the grounds of plotting a coup d'état.[1] 

 Al-Thinni was prime minister when Haftar started Operation Dignity on May 16 with attacks on Islamist bases in Benghazi but then two days later moved to Tripoli with the burning and sacking of the parliament. After the start of Operation Dignity, al-Thinni declared Haftar's operation illegal:At a government press conference held as a response to the Benghazi assault, acting Prime Minister Abdullah Al-Thinni condemned the move by Haftar as illegal and claimed that the move undermined attempts to confront terrorism. At the time, Major General Al-Obaidi also condemned Haftar's operation and said that his militia were intruders into Benghazi and should be resisted by revolutionaries.

 Now Al-Thinni presides over the Tobruk government that has welcomed Haftar back into the fold and given him the green light to "liberate" Benghazi and Tripoli. While he has retaken some parts of Benghazi at considerable cost he has achieved nothing on the ground in Tripoli except some damage to an airport and homes.

 The choice of Haftar to command the Libyan army was suggested in an August article in Washington Institute publication by Barak Barfi a research fellow at the New America Foundation where he specializes in Arab and Islamist affairs:"Washington and its partners should persuade the new Libyan government to appoint Haftar as chief of staff. Respected by his troops, he has the military skills and combat experience necessary to create a modern army. But most important, he is the sole Libyan willing to take on the Islamist militias that are preventing the establishment of a modern state" 

 The UN is trying its best to bring together the parties in conflict. However, the Tobruk government continues to support Haftar and his bombing in spite of UN condemnation and requests that they stop so that dialogue can take place. While the Libyan Supreme Court ruled back on November 6 that the June elections were unconstitutional and the Tobruk government should be dissolved, the international community shows no sign of making any move to question the legitimacy of the Al-Thinni government or take any significant actions to stop Haftar's attacks. 

A recent meeting in Khartoum even re-affirmed the legitimacy of the al-Thinni government without even mentioning the Libyan Court decision. Since the UN said it was studying the decision more than a month ago now, it has not mentioned the decision either. The Tobruk government rejected the decision out of hand noting that the court was surrounded by armed forces and guards. The court no doubt needed protection just as parliament needed it earlier when it could have been saved by burning and ransacking by the Zintan brigades, allies of Haftar. Al-Thinni was quite pleased however when the same court rejected the Islamist choice for prime minister Ahmed-Maiteeq. Maiteeq accepted that ruling which left Al-Thinni as prime minister!