Libya accuses France of supporting warlord Haftar

Libya accuses France of supporting warlord Haftar
The internationally recognised government in Libya has accused France for supporting warlord Khalifa Haftar in his attack on Tripoli.
2 min read
19 April, 2019
Khalifa Haftar is wanted for war crimes [Getty]

The interior ministry of Libya's internationally recognised government on Thursday accused France directly for the first time of supporting rival strongman Khalifa Haftar, whose forces have launched an assault on Tripoli.

Interior minister Fathi Bach Agha ordered the "suspension of all relations between the ministry and the French side... due to the position of the French government in support of the criminal Haftar", it said in a statement. 

A French foreign ministry official dismissed the allegation as "completely unfounded".

Meanwhile, Haftar is being put under pressure for his war crimes and attacks against civilians.

The internationally recognised Tripoli government on Thursday issued an arrest warrant for Haftar after he ordered deadly airstrikes against civilian areas.

Six of Haftar's officers were also named in the warrant issued by the military prosecutor general, which was published by the unity government's press office.

The International Criminal Court, at the request of Tripoli, on Thursday said they would deploy a team of investigators against Haftar as his brutal assault on Tripoli continues. 

Hundreds killed

The war crimes investigation has been urged after shelling on Libya's capital inflicted a massacre on Tuesday, killing scores of civilians. 

The fighting between Libya's rival factions for control of the country's capital this month killed 205 people so far, the World Health Organisation said on Thursday, announcing it would deploy medical specialists, including surgeons, to treat the wounded.

The clashes, which erupted earlier in April, have threatened to ignite a civil war on the scale of the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

The fighting has also forced the UN to indefinitely postpone reconciliation talks planned for mid-April that meant to try and find a way to pull Libya out of the chaos that followed Gaddafi's ousting.

WHO said it would send medical staff to treat the wounded, whose number has reached 913. It wasn't clear how many among the dead are civilians.

Fighting over Tripoli is pitting the self-styled Libyan National Army, which is led by Saudi-backed rogue commander Khalifa Haftar and aligned with a rival government based in the country's east, against Tripoli's UN-supported government.

The UN says that more than 25,000 people have been displaced in the clashes.

Agencies contributed to this report.

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