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By Ayman al-Warfalli

BENGHAZI, Libya Mon Mar 2, 2015 1:07pm EST

Then-General Khalifa Haftar speaks during a news conference at a sports club in Abyar, east of Benghazi May 21, 2014.

Credit: Reuters/Esam Omran Al-Fetori

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Khalifa Haftar, one of the most divisive figures in post-revolutionary Libya, was appointed army commander for the country's internationally recognized government on Monday in a move that could complicate U.N. talks to end the conflict.

Four years after Muammar Gaddafi's demise, Libya is mired in a conflict pitting the recognized government against a rival administration set up by an armed faction known as Libya Dawn that seized the capital Tripoli last summer.

Responding to Haftar's appointment, the Tripoli government denounced the former Gaddafi ally as a "war criminal" and said his promotion would further exacerbate a power struggle that threatens to tear the country apart.

"The House of Representatives has appointed General Khalifa Belqasem Haftar as top military commander," said Tarek Saqer Juroushi, deputy head of the defense committee at Libya's elected parliament.

He said Haftar had been promoted to lieutenant general, adding he would be sworn in on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Haftar originally helped Gaddafi come to power but fell out with him in the 1980s and then joined the 2011 revolution against him. However the Tripoli-based government views Haftar's reemergence as a sign that the old guard is gaining strength.

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