Hassan Al-Werfalli (Benghazi, Cairo)
The outskirts of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, witnessed mobilizations by armed militias, which raised fears of a military escalation in the coming period.
Video clips showed the entry of large military forces reinforced with armored vehicles belonging to “Osama al-Juwaili,” the former director of the Military Intelligence Service, to the city of Tripoli. An armed convoy of the “Moving National Division”, equipped with heavy weapons and rocket launchers, moved in several areas west of Tripoli.
Crowds of Tripoli militias were also seen in the vicinity of Maitika International Airport, east of the capital, after the end of a meeting of its leaders to discuss developments in the capital.
The efforts of the armed formations affiliated with the government of Fathi Pashaga failed to persuade the military groups stationed in Tripoli to allow the latter to enter the capital to carry out his work, after a meeting attended by “Osama Juwaili” representing the Pashaga government with a number of leaders of security and military groups and battalions from Tripoli, Misrata and Al-Zawiya, according to Confirmed by a Libyan military source.
The source indicated that the meeting agreed on the need to reduce escalation and tension, withdraw the battalions and return each faction to its camps to spare Tripoli any new confrontations or clashes during the coming period, explaining that it was agreed to hold a meeting between the most prominent leaders of the armed formations in the western region next Saturday.
The source pointed out that the meeting refused to recognize the Bashagha government, stressing their adherence to the national unity government headed by Abdel Hamid al-Dabaiba until simultaneous presidential and legislative elections are held as soon as possible, in addition to their rejection of any moves or initiatives to form a third government in the country so that Libya does not enter the dark tunnel, according to Source.
In another context, the head of the National Unity Government in Libya, Abdel Hamid Dabaiba, stressed that the solution to the crisis in the country lies in going directly to the elections.
This came during his meeting yesterday with the Director of the Middle East Department at the British Foreign Office, Stephen Hickey, and the British Ambassador to Libya, Caroline Horndahl, in the capital, Tripoli.
Dabaiba said: “The solution includes pressure on the concerned parties to issue the constitutional rule, so that the government can play its role in holding the elections.” And there are still great differences between the main political forces that are quarreling so far on a constitutional basis that allows the elections to be held.
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