The attacks left nearly 80 people dead and more than 140 injured. Witnesses said the attackers in Tripoli belonged to the Zintan brigades, who are known for their opposition to Islamists groups and have attacked Parliament before.
A spokesman for foreign affairs head Catherine Ashton said the EU was concerned about the "continuing deterioration".
"The EU renews its commitment to support the Libyan people ... and calls on all parties to build consensus so as to ensure a transition to a stable democracy," spokesman Michael Mann said.
Since the toppling of dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, successive Libyan governments have struggled to impose order as heavily armed former rebels have carved out their own fiefdoms.
EU member states, especially former colonial power Italy and its southern neighbours, are also worried by a sharp increase in the influx of refugees from Libya this year, in part due to the deteriorating security situation in the country.
[timesofindia.indiatimes.com]
19/5/14
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Coup leader? CIA asset? Mystery surrounds Libya’s rogue General Haftar...
ReplyDeleteFrom alleged connections to the CIA to possible plans to overthrow the government, there is a sense of mystery surrounding Khalifa Haftar, the rogue general whose forces led an attack on the Libyan parliament in Tripoli Sunday.
Tripoli has accused the former rebel commander of attempting to stage a coup when his forces, backed by warplanes, helicopters and rocket fire sent lawmakers running for their lives as they ransacked the legislature and demanded parliament’s suspension.
But Haftar has sought to portray himself in a different light, as a defender of the Libyan people, intent on ridding the country of Islamic extremists and a government that supports them.
Whatever the case, what is clear is that Haftar has become a significant player amid the political chaos that continues to plague Libya three years after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi, with various militia leaders battling to fill the power vacuum left by the former dictator’s demise.
It would not be the first time he has had a hand in shaping the future of the country.
A Benghazi native, Haftar began his military career under Libya’s former monarchy. In 1969, he was one of a small group of officers, led by Gaddafi, that overthrew King Idris and installed Gaddafi in power, where he would remain for the next 42 years.
Haftar’s turnabout from a loyal Gaddafi ally to opposition leader came almost two decades later, seemingly as a consequence of Libya’s lengthy and disastrous 1978-1987 war with Chad.
In the final year of the war, Haftar and a unit of Libyan troops he was commanding were captured by Chadian forces. Gaddafi disavowed Haftar and claimed the general was not part of the Libyan army, effectively consigning him and his men to prison in Chad.
CIA involvement?
What happened next remains unclear. Some sources say he spent the next few years in incarceration, others that he told the Chadian government of his decision to turn against Gaddafi and secured training facilities for him and his men near the country’s capital, N'Djamena , as part of the Libyan National Army (LNA) – the military wing of the opposition Libyan National Salvation Front..........................http://www.france24.com/en/20140519-coup-leader-cia-asset-libya-general-Khalifa-haftar/
19/5/14