Haftar's announcement of mandate to lead country and the call of European countries for truce highlighted in media

02 Mai 2020

Tripoli, Libya, May 2 (Infosplusgabon) - The statement by the head of the Libyan national army, Marshal Khalifa Haftar, that he had been mandated by Libyans to lead the country and the abandonment of the Libyan political agreement in Skhirat, Morocco, received wide publicity by Libyan newspapers appearing this week.

They also echoed the call of countries of the European Union for a humanitarian truce during the month of Ramadan, month of fasting for Muslims.

The Libyan press also covered the repercussions of the closure of oil sites since January 18, causing losses of more than $ 3.4 billion to the sector.

The Al-Wassat newspaper pointed out that global concerns over the Coronavirus pandemic had not deterred the parties to the Libyan crisis from continuing to widen the gap between their positions, while the sound of artillery and Ground and aerial bombardments had not stopped since the attack launched by Marshal Khalifa Haftar against the capital, Tripoli, on April 04, 2019, under the pretext of "Liberation of Tripoli" from militias and terrorists".

But the highlight is the sudden announcement by Haftar in a televised speech last Monday accepting what he saw as a "popular mandate" to lead the country, and the abandonment of the "agreement of Skhirat", accusing him of" destroying the country and leading it to dangerous landslides ".

The Libyan weekly newspaper added that in reaction to his words, some saw it as "a coup against the political process, while those who blessed the mandate saw it as normal, with a third opinion maintaining that the echoes of this "bomb" and the subsequent stages would constitute new facts which would be imposed on any future round of negotiations which the international community might sponsor.

Under the title "Marshal detonates the mandate bomb", Al-Wassat clarified that after the announcement of the mandate and the abandonment of the political agreement, Marshal Haftar launched another surprise, when the spokesperson of the general command read a declaration announcing that "the General Command announced the cessation of all military operations on its part".

He explained that the move came "in response to calls from brother and friendly countries who asked for it to end fighting during this holy month".

For the newspaper, “questions remain as to the position of the President of the Parliament, Aguila Saleh, who presented to Marshal Haftar a proposal closer to the political initiative containing eight points”.

The points focused on the restructuring of the current executive power emanating from the political agreement signed in Skhirat and the choice of its members by the three historic regions (Cyrenaica, Tripolitania and Fezzan) the rewriting of the Constitution with the maintenance of the House of Representatives (Parliament) until new legislative elections take place.

The big question is where do the proposals of Aguila Saleh and the marshal's "mandate" meet, and where do they contradict each other? asked the newspaper, adding that the other party will respond to the announced unilateral truce.

Afrigatenews newspaper reported a joint press release from Germany, France and Italy and the representative of the European Union, stressing that the conflict in Libya "continues with the same intensity and that the developments of the past few weeks are provoking growing concern, especially for the long-suffering Libyan people," calling for a "humanitarian truce " in Libya during the month of Ramadan.

"With the start of Ramadan, we wish to add our voices to those of the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, and his Acting Special Representative for Libya, Stephanie Williams, in their call for a humanitarian truce in Libya," indicates the Arabic-speaking electronic newspaper Afrigatenews, citing the press release.

The past few weeks have seen an increase in clashes in more than one axis of combat, while the two parties to the conflict accuse each other of violating a "fragile" truce announced last January.

The newspaper said the statement called on all Libyan parties to mark the advent of Ramadan to initiate the resumption of talks on an effective ceasefire and "to join efforts in the face of the enemy common threat posed by the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic, including the interest of the whole country".

It should be noted that the UN call on the parties to the conflict in Libya to immediately cease hostilities to face the threat of an epidemic in the country went unanswered.

The United Nations says hundreds of people have been killed and more than 200,000 have been displaced since the start of the war south of Tripoli on April 4, 2019.

Referring to the closure of petroleum installations and ports since last January, the Al-Wassat newspaper said that this caused a drop in oil exports of 92.3 percent in the first quarter of this year.

It cited the recent figures announced by the Libyan National Petroleum Company (NOC) and raised questions regarding compliance with legal accounting requirements in the disclosure of these data.

Total petroleum product revenues in the first quarter of this year were $3.4 billion, $1.7 billion in January, $ 555.5 million in February, and $ 1.093 billion in March after collecting revenue owed on January sales, according to the NOC.

The company (NOC) reported that petroleum products fell to zero during the month of March due to shutdowns of refineries and illegal closures.

The newspaper said the Libyan National Petroleum Company says it transfers revenue from sales of oil and gas products to the Central Bank, and that it makes no decisions on how to spend the direct revenue it generates.

But the newspaper said, according to oil sector analysts, an ambiguity in the latest press release, which refers to the value of the collection and not to the monthly sales, which raises questions about the validity of these data.

"Libya suffered huge losses in the first quarter of 2020 due to the illegal closings that affected many oil and gas facilities," the newspaper said, citing NOC director Mustapha Sanalla.

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/UIO/GABON2020

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