Monday, September 8, 2014

Libya now has one government in Tripoli and another in Tobruk

Yesterday, September 6, the former Libyan parliament the General National Congress(GNC) swore in a new government in Tripoli the capital. On September 7th the House of Representatives elected in June will swear in a cabinet when they meet in Tobruk.



The government in Tobruk meets there because the government was originally supposed to move from Tripoli to Benghazi but could not meet there as the city is now mostly controlled by an umbrella group of Islamist militias. 
The GNC-sponsored government is supported by Islamist militias and others opposed to CIA-linked General Haftar, whose allies the Zintan brigades have been driven from Tripoli by the Islamist umbrella group Libya Dawn. The government in Tobruk is loosely linked to General Haftar. Omar al-Hassi, the Prime Minister and 10 ministers including the oil minister, justice minister, and minister for foreign affairs were sworn in. The GNC refused to recognize the legitimacy of the assembly in Tobruk. The newly elected parliament headed by previous prime minister Abdullal al-Thinni is to swear in the new government there today.
 While the Tobruk government is recognized internationally, it has lost control of ministries located in Tripoli. The United Nations claims that fighting in the two main cities of Tripoli the capital and Benghazi in the east resulted in a quarter of a million people fleeing, with 100,000 being displaced internally.
 Reuters reports on a Libyan claim that a Sudanese plane might be bound for Tripoli carrying arms for militias that control the city. By "Libya" Reuters means the government in Tobruk. The government statement said: "This work from the Sudanese state violates (the sovereignty) of the State of Libya and interferes with its affairs.We, the Libyan government, firmly denounce that a Sudanese military plane has penetrated the Libyan airspace without an official permit from the Libyan government. The plane was carrying ammunition which had not been officially approved by the Libyan government." 
 Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi the Egyptian president expressed support for the parliament in Tobruk and warned against foreign intervention in Libyan affairs. However, according to the US, Egypt and the UAE have already been involved in several night bombings of Tripoli recently as the Islamists were in the process of driving out Haftar's allies the Zintan brigades. The US claims the planes came from the UAE but used bases in Egypt to launch the attacks. However, the enclosed video claims that the US decided to withdraw its claims about Egypt and the UAE. Haftar himself claimed the bombings were a joint action by him and the international community without naming any countries. Even before the US spoke out, Islamists had blamed the UAE and Egypt.
 El-Sisi also said if there were intervention in Libya, Egypt could act to defend its national security. While most of Tripoli is now relatively quiet fighters from Operation Dawn who control Tripoli have been clashing with the Warshefana tribe allied with the Zintan brigades in the Warshefana area that is southwest of Tripoli. British Ambassador Michael Aron confirmed the clashes in a tweet from Tripoli: "City is quiet. Families out on seafront last night. But shelling of Warshefana areas clearly heard,"

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