GNA Leader Calls on ICC to Investigate Actions of LNA in Libya

TEHRAN (defapress)- The head of Libya’s UN-recognized Government of National Accord Fayez Sarraj called on the International Criminal Court to send specialists to Libya to investigate the actions of the Eastern-based Libyan National Army led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.

News ID: 81419

Date: 29 June 2020 - 15:20

The text of Sarraj’s letter was read out by the Government's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mohammed Kablavi during a Sunday press conference broadcast by Libya Al-Ahrar TV.

"I am calling on the International Criminal Court to urgently send a team to Libya to investigate the crimes committed by Haftar’s militants, all measures will be taken to that effect and necessary assistance will be provided," Fayez said in his letter, accusing the Libyan National Army of shelling civilian residential areas and airports in Libya.

Previously, the LNA's Spokesperson Major General Ahmed Mismari accused groups supported by the Government of National Accord of escalating the internal crisis in Libya and claimed that Turkey was meddling in the situation in order to get hold of Libyan resources.

On June 6, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi held a meeting with Haftar. After the talks, the Egyptian president announced the so-called Cairo Initiative, which outlined conditions of a political settlement in Libya and stipulated that warring parties cease fire on June 8. The initiative was supported by Russia, the United States, and several Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, while Turkey and the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord headed by Sarraj rejected it.

For more than a year, Haftar’s army has been trying to capture the capital of Libya. Both sides of the conflict have accused each other of receiving aid in arms and manpower from abroad. In recent weeks, the Government's forces have made major military gains against the Libyan National Army and have announced their intention to build on this success by establishing control of the city of Sirte, currently under the control of Haftar’s forces.
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