Ali Semerci
04 April 2019•Update: 04 April 2019
TRIPOLI
Libya's Presidential Council declared a military alert Wednesday after forces loyal to commander Khalifa Haftar were deployed to western parts of the country.
In a statement, the chairman of the council, Fayez al-Sarraj, said instructions were issued and mobilization of all military and security forces was declared to thwart any attacks.
There is no military solution to the crisis, al-Sarraj said, adding the war does not bring anything to the country other than destruction and annoyance to the people.
Haftar on Wednesday reportedly ordered his forces to deploy to western parts of the country with a view to “purging them of terrorist groups and strongholds”.
The statement did not provide the exact locations to which forces were reportedly being deployed.
The move comes amid mounting speculation that pro-Haftar forces plan to march on the capital Tripoli, where Libya’s UN-backed unity government is headquartered.
Libya has remained beset by turmoil since 2011, when a bloody NATO-backed uprising led to the ouster and death of President Muammar Gaddafi after four decades in power.
Since then, Libya’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of power: one in the eastern city of Al-Bayda, to which Haftar is affiliated, and another in Tripoli.
On April 14, a UN-sponsored “national dialogue” conference will be held in Libya’s western city of Ghadames with the aim of hammering out a political “roadmap” for the troubled country’s future.
*Writing by Faruk Zorlu
