...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...
Hussein bin Atiyah said he had told the Head of the Presidential Council that "when you advocate for ending violence and hate and for dialogue, 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. 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...is responding by war and more conflicts, which means he doesn't believe in dialogue or civilian state."
Bin Atiyah's remarks came in the meeting for west Libyan municipalities held Tuesday in Tripoli and headed by al-Sirraj, who reiterated that he had told Haftar in the UAE that Libya needs a civilian state building and no military solution will resolve its crisis.
"If al-Sirraj and Haftar monopolized the political solution as the former did with the Presidential Council's decisions, this means war. Libya can only move forward if it adopts February 17 revolutions' constants such as a civilian state." He added.
Al-Sirraj told the western municipalities' representatives on Wednesday that he had agreed with Haftar on agreement based on principles that stress a civilian state, separation of powers and peaceful circulation of powers.
"There's no place for militarization of Libya and there's no place for hate, violence and any disturbances that lead to a civil war in Libya." al-Sirraj added.
He said that such principles were the key points of Abu Dhabi meeting with different parties in order to avoid bloodshed and reach a formula to avoid military escalation.
"We talked about the need to end the transitional phase, uniting state institutions, holding elections and supporting the UN envoy's efforts in Libya." al-Sirraj added.