| Submit your comments on this article |
| Africa North |
| Libya jets sink ship, hit another |
| 2015-07-21 |
| [ARABNEWS] Libyan warplanes sank one ship and attacked a second vessel on Sunday near the eastern city of Benghazi, military spokesmen for the country's internationally recognized government said on Monday. There was no independent confirmation for the strike near the town of Mareesa, the latest attack on ships in Libya where two governments and parliaments are fighting for control years after the toppling of Muammar Qadaffy ...a proud Arab institution for 42 years, now among the dear departed, though not the dearest... "The vessel was sunk because it had loaded fighters, weapons and ammunition to support terrorism in the eastern region," air force front man Nasser Al-Hassi said early on Monday. Mohammed El Hejazi, a front man for Khalifa Haftar ... served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all... , top army commander of the internationally recognized government based in eastern Libya, said the strike had also targeted a second vessel which had been carrying weapons in the same area. A military official in Mareesa said the vessels were only small ships like fishing boats coming from western Libya, which is controlled by a rival government challenging the official administration based in the east since losing Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... a year ago. "One boat was sunk, the other is burning," the official said, asking not to be named. A Rooters news hound had heard planes on Sunday circling above Benghazi, which is about 20 km from Mareesa. Tripoli-based state oil firm NOC has accused the eastern government of having three times bombed oil tankers that the eastern forces had said carried weapons and ammunition. |
| Posted by:Fred |