Libya's Haftar says any ceasefire would be contingent on Turkish withdrawal
Khalifa Haftar, Libya’s eastern military commander, demanded that Turkey withdraw its troops and Syrian fighters before any halt to his offensive on the capital Tripoli. “A ceasefire (would be) the result of a number of conditions being fulfilled …the withdrawal of Syrian and Turkish mercenaries, an end to Turkish arms supplies to Tripoli, and the liquidation of terrorist groups (in Tripoli),” Haftar said.
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Khalifa Haftar, commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), said he would be ready for a ceasefire if Turkish and Syrian mercenaries left the country and Ankara stopped supplying weapons to Libya’s internationally recognized government in Tripoli, RIA reported.
“A ceasefire (would be) the result of a number of conditions being fulfilled …the withdrawal of Syrian and Turkish mercenaries, an end to Turkish arms supplies to Tripoli, and the liquidation of terrorist groups (in Tripoli),” Haftar told Russia’s RIA news agency in an interview.
Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Feb. 21 confirmed for the first time that pro-Turkish Syrian fighters were present in Libya alongside Ankara’s training personnel.
“Turkey is there with a training force. There are also people from the Syrian National Army,” Erdoğan told reporters in Istanbul, referring to the group of rebel fighters formerly known as the Free Syrian Army.
The Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA), led by Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj, on Feb. 18 suspended talks hosted by the United Nations to halt warfare over Tripoli after eastern forces shelled the capital’s port, killing three people and almost hitting a highly explosive gas tanker.
Haftar said that the GNA had suspended its participation in the U.N.-sponsored Geneva talks on orders from Turkey and Qatar.
"Sarraj receives orders from Ankara and Doha, and he can do nothing with it. The evidence is Erdoğan’s statements, in which he stressed the need for the GNA to withdraw from the Geneva talks," Haftar said.
According to Haftar, the LNA is open to all peace initiatives that could achieve security and stability on Libyan soil and supports actions conducted by the U.N. Support Mission in Libya and its head Ghassan Salame.
At the same time, he stressed that the LNA is "losing patience" over the GNA breaching the truce.
"Our patience is running thin regarding repeated truce breaches by Erdoğan and Sarraj's mercenaries and their failure to fulfill their Berlin obligations," Haftar said.