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TRIPOLI/PARIS (Reuters) - Military strongman Khalifa Haftars intended lightning seizure of Libyas capital has stalled, but he is unlikely to face real pressure from abroad to pull back as the arrival of hardline opponents bolsters his war cry against terrorism.

FILE PHOTO: A Libyan man carries a picture of Khalifa Haftar during a demonstration to support Libyan National Army offensive against Tripoli, in Benghazi, Libya April 12, 2019. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori

Haftars eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) advanced to the outskirts of Tripoli almost two weeks ago, predicting defections, victory within two days and joyful women ululating in the streets.

However, the internationally-recognized government of Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj has managed to bog them down in southern suburbs, thanks largely to armed groups who have rushed to aid them from various western Libyan factions.

And instead of ululating, many women in fact joined a rally on Friday in Tripoli against the offensive.

Haftar, a 75-year-old former general in former dictator Muammar Gaddafis army, has been building up troop numbers and intensifying air strikes in a campaign he is selling as necessary to restore order and eradicate jihadists.

That, however, is uniting Haftars enemies behind Serraj, who lacks regular forces and needs help, but may find them difficult to control the longer the war drags on, analysts say.

Renewed conflict has scuppered for now a U.N. peace plan for Libya, with a national reconciliation conference planned for this week postponed. It also threatens to disrupt oil supplies from the OPEC member and cause new migration across the sea to Europe.

Diplomats believe Haftar for now will face no pressure from backers including the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and France, who still see him as the best bet to end the chaos and divisions since the ousting of Gaddafi in 2011.

Their case, which undermines calls by former colonial ruler Italy and others for a political solution, is aided by the arrival of militants in recent days to help Serrajs forces.

One of them is Salah Badi, a commander from nearby Misrata port who has Islamist ties and possible ambitions himself to take Tripoli. In videos from the front line, Badi has been seen directing men as well as a U.N.-sanctioned people trafficker.

Some hardcore Islamists, previously affiliated to Ansar Sharia, have also popped up in the fighting, according to the videos. That group was blamed by Washington for the 2012 storming of a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi that killed the ambassador and three other Americans.France, which has oil assets in Libya though less than Italy, has called for a ceasefire - albeit more reluctantly than Rome - while also echoing Haftars narrative that some extremists were among the Tripoli defenders.

There is an oversimplification. It is not just Haftar the baddy against the goodies in Tripoli and Misrata. There are groups that are at the end of the day allied to al Qaeda on the other side, said a French diplomatic source.

Perhaps if those opposed to Haftar had done a deal with him in 2017, the balance of power would not have shifted against them, the source said, referring to when France brought Haftar and Serraj together for face-to-face talks in Paris.

Serrajs government has sought to downplay the presence of hardliners. On both sides there are members accused of being violators, Mohamed Siyala, his foreign minister, told reporters.

Haftars own troops are swelled by an estimated hundreds of Salafist Islamists, and one of his commanders is wanted by the International Criminal Court over the alleged summary execution of dozens of people in the eastern city of Benghazi.

It was there that Haftar in 2014 launched his Operation Dignity campaign, naming his forces an army to try and distinguish from militias elsewhere.

He won the Benghazi battle against mainly Islamists in 2017 with covert support from the UAE, Egypt and France, but some of his defeated foes are now in Tripoli seeking revenge.

Neighboring Egypts President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi met Haftar at the weekend in Cairo and in a statement confirmed Egypts support for efforts to combat terrorism.

Wolfram Lacher, a researcher at German think tank SWP, said there was exaggeration of the presence of militants in Tripoli for propaganda purposes.

These elements are a tiny minority of the forces that are fighting against Haftar right now, but this could become a self-fulfilling prophecy the longer this goes on, he said.

So anybody who has an interest in preventing jihadist mobilization in Libya should have an interest in stopping this war now.

In the past, the UAE and Egypt have supported Haftar with air strikes in eastern Libya, but it is unclear whether they would do so in the current campaign, diplomats and analysts say.

For Paris, Haftar, or a perceived stable army in Tripoli, is key to its wider policy against militants in the Sahel.

France has some 4,500 troops in the deserts to the south and west of Libya, and wants to ensure the porous borders are locked as tightly as possible. Its support of Haftar will depend on whether it thinks he can win or how much civilian casualties can be contained.

Should those escalate and refugee numbers swell, then it may be forced to be more proactive in pressuring Haftar.

It will also depend on how UAE support evolves.

France has listened increasingly closely to Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayeds views on Libya since President Emmanuel Macron came to power. An internal policy battle in France between the foreign and defense ministries prior to his arrival had until then blurred Paris lines.

While France is keen to project its Libya policy as a home-grown policy, in reality France merely follows the UAE more or less, said Jalel Harchaoui, research fellow at the Clingendael Institute think-tank in The Hague.

What this means today is: Unless MBZ decides that Haftar has blown his chance and failed irretrievably, Emmanuel Macron is unlikely to alter or subdue his pro-Haftar policy in Libya.

Additional reporting by Ahmed Elumami in Tripoli; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne

Read more:
Libya offensive stalls, but Haftar digs in given foreign ...

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Excerpt from:
Libya: UN-backed government condemns Tripoli airport ...

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - An offensive by eastern forces on the Libyan capital Tripoli stalled in the face of strong resistance on the southern outskirts on Thursday and the internationally recognized government said it had taken almost 200 prisoners.

A masked member of Libyan internationally recognised pro-government forces is seen in a military vehicle on the outskirts of Tripoli, Libya April 10, 2019. REUTERS/Hani Amara

The fighting between Khalifa Haftars Libyan National Army (LNA) and troops under the internationally-backed Tripoli government has killed at least 56 people and forced 8,000 to flee their homes in the city in the last week, the United Nations said.

A Reuters reporter heard occasional heavy gunfire and explosions as the LNA faced off with forces of Prime Minister Fayez al-Serrajs government around a disused former international airport and the Ain Zara district.

After sweeping up from the south, the LNA became bogged down in Tripolis southern suburbs 11 km (7 miles) from the city center. Several locations have changed hands more than once.

More than 190 LNA troops were captured, officials allied to Tripoli said, accusing it of using teenagers. A total of 116 fighters were captured in Zawiya, a town west of Tripoli, and an additional 75 in Ain Zara on the southern outskirts of the capital, officials said.

In a prison in Zawiya, Reuters reporters saw prisoners, mostly young men, some wearing civilian clothes, sitting on the floor of a prison while others stood with their faces turned to a wall.

In Tripoli, officials brought families displaced by fighting on the southern fringes to shelter in schools. Red Crescent workers were heading out rations in one school as gunfire clattered in the distance.

Haftars push on Tripoli in Libyas northwest is the latest turn in a cycle of factional violence and chaos in Libya dating back to the 2011 uprising that overthrew veteran dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

The European Union urged the LNA forces to stop their offensive, agreeing finally on a statement after France and Italy had sparred over how to handle the escalating conflict.

The military attack launched by the LNA on Tripoli and the subsequent escalation in and around the capital are endangering civilians, including migrants and refugees, and disrupting the U.N.-led political process, with the risk of serious consequences for Libya and the wider region, including the terrorist threat, the EU top diplomat, Federica Mogherini, said in a statement.

France, which has oil assets in eastern Libya, has provided military assistance in past years to Haftar in his eastern stronghold, Libyan and French officials say. It was also a leading player in the war to unseat Gaddafi..

Italy supports the U.N.-backed government of Serraj.

Haftar has moved troops from southern and eastern Libya to Tripoli, stretching his lines.

Exploiting this, Islamic States AMAQ news agency said on that the Islamist militant group had killed six soldiers from the LNA force near Sabha in Libyas southwest.

LNA spokesman Ahmed Mismari confirmed the attack but said there had been no casualties on the LNA side.

In the latest tally of casualties from the U.N. World Health Organization (WHO) said 56 people - mainly combatants though also some civilians including two doctors and an ambulance driver - had been killed, and another 266 wounded in Tripoli.

It was not clear if this included the toll given by the LNA for its soldiers - 28 killed and 92 wounded since the start of the offensive a week ago.

The number of people forced out of their homes by fighting rose to 8,075, the U.N. migration agency IOM said.

As well as the toll on civilians, the renewed conflict threatens to disrupt oil supplies, increase migration across the Mediterranean to Europe, scupper the U.N. peace plan for the country and encourage militants to exploit the chaos. Libya is a main transit point for migrants who have poured into Europe in recent years, mostly by trafficking gangs.

The LNA forces swept out of their stronghold in eastern Libya to take the sparsely populated but oil-rich south earlier this year, before heading toward Tripoli, where Serrajs U.N.-backed government sits.

Haftar was among the officers who helped Gaddafi seize power in a 1969 coup before parting ways with him later. But critics call Haftar another strongman in Gaddafis mold.

Haftar has resisted U.N. pressure to accept a power-sharing settlement to stabilize the country, using his leverage as a Western ally against militant Islam in North Africa.

Reporting by Ulf Laessing and Ahmed Elumami in Tripoli, Ayman al-Warfalli in Benghazi, Tom Miles in Geneva, Hesham Hajali in Cairo, John Irish in Paris and Gabriela Baczynska in Brussels; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Frances Kerry

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TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya should hold parliamentary and presidential elections by year end, the internationally recognized Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj said on Tuesday.

The United Nations had planned for the North African oil producer to hold elections on Dec. 10 as a way out of conflict since the toppling of late leader Muammar Gaddafi but a spike in violence and lack of understanding between its rival camps had made this impossible.

Libya is divided into a recognized government in Tripoli and a parallel version in the east backed by Khalifa Haftar, whose forces control the east.

Last week, Serraj met with Haftar in Abu Dhabi but few details had emerged so far. He said in a speech in Tripoli he had agreed with Haftar to hold elections by year end.

He said he had met Haftar in order to stop bloodshed, reach a formula of avoiding our countrys conflict and military escalation.

Serraj did not elaborate.

Haftars forces, the Libya National Army, have expanded south since January, securing key oilfields. There has been talk they might move north to take the capital in western Libya.

Reporting by Ahmed Elumami and Ulf Laessing; Editing by Alistair Bell

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Libya to hold elections by year end: Tripoli PM | Reuters

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - NATO is to formally decide on Wednesday whether to end its mission over Libya now that Muammar Gaddafi is dead and buried and the countrys new leaders have declared the nation liberated.

The likely decision to end the alliances patrols over the skies of Libya at the end of the month marks another milestone in what the National Transitional Council (NTC) has pledged will be a road toward democracy and free and fair elections in 2013.

But the deaths of Gaddafi and his son Motassim after both were captured wounded but alive on Thursday and the grisly public display of their decomposing bodies in a Misrata meat locker have made the NTCs Western backers uneasy about Libyas prospects for stable government and respect for the rule of law.

Gaddafi and Motassim were buried in a secret desert location on Tuesday to prevent their graves becoming a shrine for any remaining followers in the oil-rich North African state.

Under pressure from Western allies, the NTC promised on Monday to investigate how Gaddafi and his son were killed. Mobile phone footage shows both alive after their capture. The former leader was seen being mocked, beaten and abused before he died, in what NTC officials say was crossfire.

The treatment of others who supported Gaddafi and fought alongside him was now an issue, said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman.

This is a test. The NTC has repeatedly said that they will distinguish themselves from the Gaddafi regime in terms of the respect of human rights and the rule of law, he told a news conference in Morocco.

Now is the time for them to begin actions that will help them reinforce these words.

Emerging from 42 years of often brutal one-man rule, many Libyans are savoring the end of eight months of bitter civil war won with NATOs backing and are unconcerned about how Gaddafi met his end and how his body was treated afterwards.

Throw him in a hole, in the sea, in garbage. No matter. He is lower than a donkey or a dog and only foreigners say they care about how we killed him. And they are lying, said engineer Ali Azzarog, 47.

Hatred of Gaddafi unified his disparate opponents, who will likely now tussle for power during a planned transition to democracy in a nation riven with regional and tribal rivalries.

With economic problems at home, NATO countries are expected to endorse an end to their U.N.-mandated mission in Libya when their ambassadors meet in Brussels on Wednesday after a preliminary decision last week to end it on October 31.

We said that we would consult closely with the United Nations and the NTC and that process of consultations is ongoing, NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said.

Libyan interim Oil and Finance Minister Ali Tarhouni said he wanted NATO to maintain its mission for another month, but hoped for a swift end to United Nations sanctions to free up funds for the interim government to pay salaries and help reconstruction.

NATO spokeswoman Lungescu declined to say whether NATO might extend the mission.

I dont know whether there is a formal request. All these things remain to be sorted out. But in the end this is a political decision, she said.

NATOs Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy, James Appathurai, said he expected the alliance to confirm its decision to end the mission.

I dont expect that there will be a change to that decision, because it is quite clear that the pro-Gaddafi elements no longer have the command and control or other capabilities to pose an organized threat to civilians. That is now finished, and as a result our operation will end, he said.

Western military powers have already begun winding down the Libyan mission, and diplomats have said the majority of NATO equipment, including fighter jets, has already been withdrawn.

A NATO statement on Tuesday said operations in the interim would involve intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, although NATO would retain the capability to conduct air strikes if they were needed.

The one remaining element from the old order is Gaddafis sons, the enigmatic Saif al-Islam, who remains on the run. Once viewed as a moderate reformer, he vowed to help his father crush his enemies once the revolt began.

An NTC official said Saif al-Islam was in the southern desert near Niger and Algeria and was set to flee Libya using a false passport.

Reporting by Taha Zargoun in Sirte, Barry Malone and Jessica Donati in Tripoli, Rania El Gamal and Tim Gaynor in Misrata, Christian Lowe, Jon Hemming and Andrew Hammond in Tunis, Hamid Ould Ahmed in Algiers, Samia Nakhoul in Dubai, Abdoulaye Massalaatchi in Niamey, Matt Falloon in London, Souhail Karam in Rabat; Writing by Jon Hemming; Editing by David Stamp and Ralph Gowling

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Gaddafi killed in hometown, Libya eyes future | Reuters