ON THURSDAY, the US Ambassador to Libya, Richard Norland, told the Al-Jazeera TV channel that the target is to unify the Libyan institutions, including the military institution. He stressed that it is essential for the Government of National Unity (GNU) to step forward in controlling the whole country to avoid more instability.
He stated that unifying the military institutions is a significant interest for the Libyans. He added that there are positive movements to achieve this goal through some initiatives between the governmental forces in the eastern and western sides of the country. Norland praised the role of the 5+5 military committee in unifying the military forces under one leadership.
Observers said they agree with Norland about unifying the military in general but describing the war criminal General Khalifa Haftar as a good actor is not acceptable.
The observers asked “How can Haftar play a good role after all his crimes in Libya? Haftar, who had destroyed Benghazi and Derna cities in the east and then attacked the capital city of Tripoli, cannot be described only as a war criminal.”
They also said that Haftar recently had assassinated some of his military officers in Benghazi to bury them with secrets that prove his criminals before the Libyans and the world.
Norland avoided talking about the legal procedures brought against Haftar in the United States. Instead, he advised the Presidential Council (PC) to work for the reconciliation, adding that the legal issues against Haftar should be left for the Libyans to deal with them in the future.
It is worth mentioning that Haftar is facing legal issues before a court in the US for some of his crimes.
Norland, who said that Haftar is a significant side to end the crisis in Libya, forgets that he is talking about a defeated war criminal who carries his crimes on his shoulders in front of the Libyans and his victims.
He then escaped from the embarrassment by talking about the foreign actors that support the parties of the conflict in Libya. He clarified that his side spoke to the Russians and Turkish to convince them to withdraw their forces from Libya.
Norland said that it is in the interest of Russia and Turkey to leave the Libyan lands as soon as possible so the Libyan leadership can control their country and achieve stability.
One Libyan military officer had commented on Norland’s statement criticizing him for his contradictory words. He said that Norland, on the one hand, wants the Libyan 5+5 to solve the issue but with letting Haftar play his role. On the other hand, he says that the outsider actors are leading the conflict. It is clear for everyone, including Norland, that Haftar had started very early depending on other countries to support him in his wars against the Libyans. The issue is that Haftar is still communicating with his outsider supporters, so how can he help in bringing sovereignty to the Libyan military?
The officer said that Norland needs to investigate to find out who is obstructing the political process in Libya. If he does this faithfully, he will come to a clear result that the only one who blocks the process is Haftar. He added that the 5+5 committee needs to get rid of Haftar’s intervention to resolve the issues and end the crisis.
