Gen. Haftar Slanders Algerian Mediation Again

Retired Gen. Khalifa Haftar puts again the stick in the wheel of the mediation efforts that were launched by Algeria to reach reconciliation between the opponents of the Libyan crisis, after the imminent signs of a breakthrough appeared on the horizon in the recent weeks.

Hafter who paid a first visit to Algeria, on December, 18, 2016, denied any intention of sitting at the table of dialogue with the Presidential Council’s Government, that is led by Fayez Al-Sarraj, who visited in turn Algeria on December, 25, 2016, in the midst of a series of visits that were led many political and military faces in the eastern neighbor of Algeria, including Ekila Saleh, President of the Parliament.

Commander of the so-called “Libyan army”, said in an interview to the Italian newspaper “Corriere della Sera”, that there are no signs of resuming the talks with Al-Sarraj government, that is backed by the United Nations, in a statement that seems at odds with the backgrounds of his visit to Algeria recently and for the efforts of the international community.

It is known that Algeria received in the past month, three influential figures in the Libyan affairs, including Khalifa, in a matter of only two weeks, and the goal of all this aimed to bring together the parties to the negotiations table, in the hope of ending the Libyan crisis, which continuation threatens the security and stability of the North Africa, the Sahel and the Sahara regions.

Haftar hopes during his visit to Algeria to obtain a supportive attitude to him, concerning the supply of arms to Libya, but the Algerian party’s preservation to this requirement, angered Haftar, who directs his face to Russia, which is looking for a foothold in Libya, after the strategic achievement in Syria with Assad’s forces.

According to a diplomatic source, Algeria planned a meeting between the PM of the government that is internationally recognized, Fayez Al-Sarraj and Khalifa Haftar, who controls large parts of the east of Libya and some oil fields, in order to reach an agreement on ending the state of hostilities, and the formation of a government of national unity to overcome the current division state, but the statement of Hafter destroyed the initiative.

Haftar justified this position by saying that the talks with Al-Sarraj began nearly two and a half years ago, but they did not produce any “encouraging results”, and he preferred thus the war that is rejected by Algeria and the international community on the quest of the struggling peace.

Gen. Hafter who holds the US citizenship chose the war on peace when he told the Italian newspaper: “When we will defeat the militants, we can return to the talks on democracy and elections, but not now”, knowing that Haftar’s troops failed over nearly more than two years of fighting, in the liberation of the city of Benghazi from his opponents.

It seems that the man only believes in the logic of force in resolving the crisis, and in the conduct of the country then, as he said that the Libyans “did not have an idea of ​​the meaning of democracy”, while he was going to talk about the elections that followed the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime, adding that the people of Libya were not prepared.