Audio: Libya's Haftar Full Speech in English on Freeing Tripoli Battle

After Libyan Commander Khalifa Haftar had urged his forces to advance towards the center of Tripoli on Thursday in what he said would be the "final battle" for the capital, SEENews highlighted the Libyan commander’s speech.

Haftar, who heads the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA), launched an offensive in April to try to take control of Tripoli which stalled on the outskirts of the city.

"Today we announce the decisive battle and the advancement towards the heart of the capital to set it free ...advance now our heroes," Haftar said in a televised speech broadcast on Thursday.

[audio mp3="https://see.news/images/2019/12/Libyas-Haftar-Full-Speech.mp3"][/audio]

His forces have often issued announcements of advances or decisive military action that have been followed by little concrete change on the battlefield.

"Our forces are ready to fight any new insane attempt," by Haftar to liberate the city, Libya’s al-Ahrar channel quoted Tripoli's interior minister Fathi Bashagha as saying.

In his televised speech, Haftar urged members of the military units stationed in the military operations axes of the capital, Tripoli to move towards the heart of the capital city of Tripoli.

In another regard, the head of Libya's eastern-based parliament on Thursday said he disagreed with an accord between Libya and Turkey establishing maritime boundaries which has infuriated Athens.

Greece expelled the Libyan ambassador last week over the Nov. 27 accord establishing a sea corridor between Libya and Turkey and in areas where Greece considers it has maritime rights.

"We are here to stress that this specific agreement is rejected, it is invalid," said Aguila Saleh Issa, speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives.

"Those that signed it do not have any legal authority to do so, since the government itself was rejected. It failed a confidence vote twice and has not been legally sworn in at the House of Representatives," Issa told reporters in Athens through an interpreter.

Issa is aligned to General Haftar who controls the east of the country which opposes the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli.

Since 2014 Libya has had competing governments based in Tripoli and the east. Saleh's House of Representatives was Libya’s internationally recognised chamber at the time of a UN-backed deal in 2015 that led to the formation of the GNA, but the chamber has since fragmented.