Libyan armed forces voice readiness to secure upcoming elections

TRIPOLI, Libya

The leaders of the Libyan armed forces in the west and east of the country on Thursday evening announced their readiness to secure upcoming elections.

The announcement came during a meeting between Libyan Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Mohammed Al-Haddad with Abdel Razek al-Nadori, Kahlifa Haftar's army chief, in the city of Benghazi.

“The Libyan army is ready to secure the upcoming Libyan elections,” al-Nadori said.

“The military institution in Libya is independent and does not belong to any political party,” he added.

For his part, Al-Haddad affirmed their quest "to preserve the unity of Libyan soil.”

“There are countries that are interfering in Libyan affairs and do not want the country to be stable,” he added.

Al-Haddad also said, "Today's meeting came to complete what was discussed earlier and implement what we agreed upon," without giving further details.

On March 17, Abdoulaye Bathily, the UN envoy to Libya, urged Libyan rivals to engage in talks to unify Libya's military institutions and to pave the way for a safe environment to hold the country's long-awaited elections.

Following that call, two meetings of the 5+5 joint military committee took place this April, the first in Tripoli and the second in Benghazi.

The 5+5 Joint Military Committee includes five members from the Libyan government military in western Libya and five other members from Haftar's forces in the east.

The committee has been holding UN-sponsored meetings over the past two years to ensure a continued cease-fire and hold talks on unifying the military in Libya.

Libya has been torn by civil war and instability since the ouster of longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

*Ikram Kouachi contributed to this report