...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...
denounced Tuesday the meeting of UNSMIL's Head Ghassan Salame with "outlaw Khalifa Haftar
...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, 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, so it's kind of hard to describe him as a Qadaffy holdover. 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...They said in a letter to the Secretary General of the UN that Haftar has no authority or official occupation as the HoR scrapped General Commander of Army post that was given to him by Tobruk-based HoR in 2015.
"Salame's visit to Haftar who hindered the UN-led political process gives him and his attack on Tripoli some sort of legitimacy." The letter reads.
It adds that the HoR members were hoping Salame would condemn the attack on Tripoli and other cities in southern Libya with all the aftermath and destruction those attacks had caused, including in Benghazi and Derna.
The HoR members also said that Salame has become part of the problem, saying Haftar can never be part of the political process again.
Salame visited Haftar in al-Rajma days ago and discussed with him the ongoing fighting and the ways to end it.
He also met with HoR Speaker in Tobruk Aqila Saleh and, according to MPs in there, he told Saleh that UNSMIL doesn't recognize Tripoli-based HoR.
In Tripoli and other western region cities, many people have been calling for sacking and replacing Salame saying he is biased to Haftar and is reluctant to condemn the Tripoli offensive by Haftar's forces despite the hundreds of casualties and thousands of IDPs it caused.