Libya's Haftar promises to take Benghazi 'within a month'

The army chief of Libya's internationally recognised government says that the presence of Islamist militias in the city of Benghazi will be brought to an end soon.

MENA

2 min read

Agencies

17 March, 2015

Haftar, 72, was sworn in on March 9 as the new army chief. (Getty)

Libya's new army chief, Khalifa Haftar, promised his forces would take control of Benghazi, the second biggest Libyan city, from Islamist militias within a month.

"We will end in very little time the presence of the enemy in the region," he told AFP at his military compound in Al-Marj, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) northeast of Benghazi.

"Operations in the city of Benghazi will end before the middle of next month," he said.

Haftar, 72, was sworn in on March 9 as the new army chief in conflict-ridden Libya and promoted to general, a week after his nomination by the elected parliament.

Operations in the city of Benghazi will end before the middle of next month.

- Khalifa Haftar.

The General, who once helped toppled dictator Moamer Gaddafi come to power, but fell out with him in the 1980s, has become once post-revolutionary Libya's most divisive figures. In 2011, he joined the anti-Gaddafi Libyan movement, only to remerge on the political scene last year.

Last May, Haftar launched a self-declared war against Islamists militants in Benghazi. Haftar's fource is a combination of Libyan's tiered of the bloody chaos in the country and army troops.

He said the offensive in Benghazi, which he has dubbed Operation Dignity, was to "answer the repeated calls of the Libyan people for the return of the army to combat terrorism in the region".

He also called on the international community to support the Libyan army.

Last May, Haftar launched an offensive against Islamists in the country's east focused on Benghazi but has so far failed to take the city.

Since the 2011 overthrow Gaddafi, Libya has been wrecked by conflict, with rival governments and powerful militias battling for control of key cities and the country's oil riches.

The North African country has two parliaments and two governments.

The internationally recognised legislature was elected in June and is based in the eastern city of Tobruk, while the rival Islamist-backed General National Congress (GNC) is in the capital, Tripoli.