ANSD : Eastern Libya govt visits key southern city of Sabha

MON 25 - 11 - 2024

Date: Jan 29, 2019
Source: The Daily Star

Eastern Libya govt visits key southern city of Sabha

_Reuters
BENGHAZI, Libya: A high-level delegation from Libya’s parallel government in the east visited the main southern city of Sabha Monday after its forces this month seized control of the city, an official said. The eastern government is allied to Khalifa Haftar, whose Libyan National Army launched a campaign this month in southwestern Libya.

Sabha had been nominally under the control of the internationally recognized government in Tripoli but in reality was run by local groups including tribes.

Control of Sabha is seen as vital for securing southern Libya’s oilfields, one of the stated goals of the LNA campaign.

The interior, health and junior justice ministers of the eastern government, which is based in Benghazi, were seen meeting local officials in the municipality of Sabha in pictures sent to Reuters by members of the visiting delegation.

The officials later visited the main hospital and a court, journalists said.

Tripoli officials could not be reached for comment on the visit, which further highlighted the internationally recognized government’s continued lack of authority in most of Libya.

Tripoli-based Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj said during a visit to Vienna Monday that “many things” were not going well in the south, but he did not allude to the visit by the eastern delegation or to the LNA advance.

“Regarding the south we need better support for our security forces. We need more cooperation between all security forces,” he said.

The LNA has secured Sabha airport as well as other strategic sites in the area in the past few days, after local groups handed them over without a fight.

The LNA says its campaign is aimed at combating militant groups and securing oil facilities in the south, which include the al-Sharara oilfield, Libya’s biggest.

LNA forces killed a suspected Al-Qaeda fighter Monday called Adel Ahmed al-Abdaly when they stormed his house in Sabha, LNA spokesman Ahmed Mismari said. Otherwise the city has been largely quiet since the arrival of the LNA.

Al-Qaeda and Daesh (ISIS) have been using southern Libya as a base for attacks in Libya and neighboring countries, exploiting a security vacuum created by the fall of dictator Moammar Gadhafi in a 2011 rebellion backed by NATO air strikes.

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