Libyan Army Spokesman, Colonel Muhammad Gununu has cast into doubt the effectiveness of the new ceasefire announced in the country on Friday.
“The Libyan Army can not trust Haftar’s militias after all the crimes they have committed and their breaches of previous treaties, said Gununu .
This came yesterday following the GNA head Fayez al-Sarraj’s instructions to immediately cease fire and combat operations in all Libyan territories.
Gununu reiterated in a series of tweets, the Libyan Army’s commitment to liberate all Libyan cities and redress the victims of injustice, underscoring that the displaced persons must be allowed to return to their homes safely.
“All Libyan territory, as well as the country’s resources, must be under the state’s control,” Gununu underlined, stressing the army’s consistent position on eradicating hotbeds of tension and threat, as well as outlaw groups where ever they exist
The internationally recognized GNA and the Tobruk-based House of Representatives loyal to Khalifa Haftar’s forces agreed, in separate statements on Friday, to an immediate ceasefire, in a move hailed by the United Nations.
Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj of Libya’s Tripoli-based government said an effective cease-fire requires “the demilitarization of Sirte and Jurfa areas, and that forces from both sides agree on security arrangements there.”
However Aguila Saleh, speaker of the Tobruk-based House of Representatives, supported Sarraj’s proposal of demilitarization of Sirte — but he did not mention Jurfa, which was declared a “red line” by Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi – who backed Haftar and threatened to deploy troops across the border into Libya.
The ceasefire announcement also runs counter to earlier statements made by Haftar’s spokesman Ahmed Al Mismari just two days ago, who reiterated Haftar’s total rejection of a demilitarized zone in Sirte and Jufra, while vowing to deploy more forces and weapons to these areas.
Meanwhile, several political parties in Tripoli have expressed their surprise a the move, saying there had been no earlier consultations in this regard, according to Aljazeera’s correspondent in the Libyan capital.