Libya Parliament Calls for Polls before Feb. 2018
Libya's parliament wants presidential and legislative elections to be held within a year, keeping up its rejection of a U.N.-backed unity government in Tripoli, a spokesman said Wednesday.
The legislative body based in Libya's far east has asked for polling before February 2018, Fathi al-Mrimi told the LANA news agency loyal to the eastern authorities.
The legislature, elected in 2014 and backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar, has refused to recognize the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA).
Parliament speaker Aguila Salah has written to Libya's electoral commission asking for elections.
"In view of the difficult conditions the country is going through and the current political chaos, we ask you to take all the necessary measures to prepare holding presidential and parliamentary elections before February 2018," he said.
Libya has been wracked by chaos since the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi, with rival authorities and militias battling for control of the oil-rich country.
Haftar's troops last week lost control of two key oil terminals in the country's so-called oil crescent to the rival Benghazi Defense Brigades (BDB).
Parliament has accused the GNA of backing the offensive to retake Ras Lanuf and al-Sidra, and on Tuesday suspended its participation in political dialogue after what it called "the terrorist attack on the oil crescent."
The Tripoli government denies any involvement and has condemned the offensive as a "military escalation."
But it said on Wednesday that it had asked oil installation guards who are loyal to the GNA to secure the terminals recaptured from pro-Haftar forces.
"I have the pleasure of announcing... we have taken up our functions to secure the oil installations," the head of the guards, Idris Abu Khamada, said on Tuesday in Ras Lanuf.
In September, pro-Haftar forces captured Ras Lanuf, Al-Sidra and two other eastern oil ports from which most of Libya's oil is exported -- in a blow to the authority of the GNA.
The strongman's forces have been carrying out air strikes on BDB positions and have announced a counter-offensive to retake the two export terminals.
At least 32 of its soldiers have been killed since Friday, spokesman Mohamad al-Jali said. A source from the Red Crescent in eastern Libya confirmed the toll.
Source: Agence France Presse
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