Libyan General Wants Parliament Suspended


Libyan General Wants Parliament Suspended

TEHRAN (Tasnim) - A Libyan military commander called for the interim parliament to be suspended and a presidential committee to be formed to govern until new elections.

Major General Khalifa Haftar, who was a leading figure in the 2011 revolution against Muammar Gaddafi, made the comments on Friday in what he described as a road map to "rescue" the country.

"The national command of the Libyan army is declaring a movement for the new road map," Haftar said in a statement, adding that the armed forces were calling for Libya to be "rescued" from its upheaval.

"We will hold meetings with different parties and groups regarding implementing this road map."

But it was not clear how much influence he has even within the small, nascent army in a country where other militia groups are more powerful, Reuters reported.

Since the fall of Gaddafi, Libya has had a fragile government and armed forces unable to impose their authority on competing political factions and the brigades of former rebels who refuse to disarm.

In the capital Tripoli, business was normal, and Reuters news agency journalists reported there were no immediate signs of any extraordinary troop movements or activity outside the parliament, the prime minister's office or any ministries.

A spokesman for the General National Congress (GNC) parliament dismissed the statement.

"He doesn't represent the army," Omar Humaidan said. "He is not even in Tripoli, the capital is secure."

Libya's army barely exists with most of its soldiers still in training or drawn from the ranks of former rebels who are often more loyal to their own regions, their commanders or their tribes than a national force.

Haftar was once a Gaddafi ally, but broke with him over the war with Chad in the 1980s. He later sought exile in the United States, but returned to become a commander of forces in the 2011 revolution.

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