Germany asks Haftar to stop offensive in Libya

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN (AA) - Germany on Thursday called on Libya’s pro-Khalifa Haftar forces to immediately stop military offensive on the capital city of Tripoli.

A spokesman for Angela Merkel said the German chancellor has condemned Haftar’s military offensive on Thursday in a phone call with Fayez al-Sarraj, chairman of the Presidential Council and prime minister of the UN-backed Government of National Accord.

“The federal government asks General Haftar and his supporters to immediately stop all military operations,” spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement.

“The Chancellor has reaffirmed her conviction that there can be no military solution in Libya,” he said, adding that Germany would continue to support UN’s efforts for a peaceful solution in the country.

Last Thursday, commander Haftar announced that his forces are launching a military campaign to capture Tripoli from the UN-backed government.

Libya has remained beset by turmoil since 2011, when a bloody NATO-backed uprising led to the ouster and death of President Muammar Gaddafi after four decades in power.

Since then, the country’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of power: one in eastern Libya, with which strongman Khalifa Haftar is associated, and another in Tripoli, which enjoys UN support.