[Libya Observer] 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...
's self-styled military command is rejecting a planned humanitarian aid
to east Libyan areas from the Italian government.Head of the media office of the command, Khalifa al-Obaidi, told Afrigatennews, a 24-hour Dignity Operation mouthpiece website funded by the UAE, that the military command refuses any Italian aid unless Italia pulls its troops out of Libya.
Al-Obaidi was reacting to the recent declaration of Italian minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, Angelino Alfano, to send humanitarian aid to the areas under the control of Dignity Operation in eastern Libya.
"The only possible response to Russia's actions in Libya is taking an even stronger leadership role in there," Angelino Alfano, was quoted as saying on the sidelines of Middle East peace conference in Gay Paree on Sunday.
Alfano didn't give a specific date for the aid delivery.
Last week, the eastern government of Abdullah al-Thanni accused Italia of sending soldiers and ammunition to Libya's waters off the western shores.
It also regarded the reopening of Italian embassy in 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...
as a new Italian occupation, claiming in a diplomatic note to all Libyan embassies abroad that "some members of the Presidency Council have allowed the grandsons of Benito Mussolini
...former dictator of Italia. He perfected the idea of the corporate state and was all the vogue in intellectual circles until he lined up with Adolf in the Second World War. He wanted Italians to be figli de la lupa, and like the sons of wolves they turned on him when they finally got the chance. He ended his days dangling by his heels in a public square next to his mistress...
to return to Libya on board warships to defile Libya's soil."
The interim government of Abdullah al-Thanni is controlled by Khalifa Haftar's self-styled military command. al-Thanni visited the command in Rajma town on Monday to brief Khalifa Haftar on the latest decisions and steps taken by his cabinet and to get instructions on how to deal with a number of political issues.