Libya’s Government of National Accord Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha placated Egypt after the circulation of a video shows Egyptian workers held captives by pro-GNA forces in Misrata.
In exclusive remarks to the Bloomberg, Bashagha said that Egypt can play a role in resolving his country’s crisis.
Bashagha’s statements came after a video circulated on social media showing militants loyal to his forces abusing Egyptian captives and forcing them to praise the GNA’s forces.
The GNA’s interior minister cast doubt on the video’s authenticity, claiming that he will investigate it.
“If the video were authentic, the culprits would be arrested,” he told the Bloomberg.
“These practices are rejected and denounced and have no connections with Libyan morals,” he told Bloomberg News by phone.
In videos, the GNA militants forced the Egyptian captives to stand up on one leg, while their hands were up.
The Egyptian captives were taken to Misrata, northwestern Libyan. They were detained in Tarhuna, 65 kilometers to the southeast of Tripoli.
Moreover, the militants forced the Egyptian captives to curse Egyptian and Libyan leaders. Those who did not respond to the militants’ orders’ were beaten, as shown in the video.
SEE News tried to contact spokespersons of the Volcano of Anger Operation, but they were not reachable.
However, it’s shown in the video that the militants made the Egyptian captives to praise and pray for the GNA’s Volcano of Anger forces.
In April, 2019, the GNA forces announced launching the Operation Volcano of Anger to fight against the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
Forces of the LNA, led by Field Marshal Haftar, control eastern Libya and most of its oil wells. Since April 2019, the LNA has launched an attack on the forces of the GNA, headed by Fayez al-Sarraj, aimed at controlling Tripoli, but it has recently retreated.
Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011, Libya has been in chaos. Since 2015, the two ruling powers have been in conflict – the GNA based in Tripoli (west), and a parallel government supported by the LNA Commander Field Marshal Haftar in the east of the country.
Haftar does not recognize the legitimacy of the Sarraj government, which was formed under the Skhirat Agreement in Morocco, under the auspices of the United Nations in December 2015.
Bashagha Neither Welcome Nor reject Egyptian Initiative on Libya
Last week, the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi announced the Egyptian initiative to solve the Libyan crisis, telling a news conference that the initiative includes a cease-fire and is meant to pave the way for elections in oil-rich Libya. He warned that the military solution will not solve the country’s crisis.
In previous statements to SEE, Saleh said that “It’s simple. Let’s hold free elections in the three provinces of Libya. Historically Libya is considered three provinces, Tripolitania in the northwest, Cyrenaica in the east, and Fezzan in the southwest.”
Bashagha, did not formally accept or reject the Egyptian peace plan, wrote on Twitter that any initiative that led to a civilian government was welcome -- without mentioning the proposal by name.
“Egypt is an important country for Libya,” Bashagha said in a previous phone interview with the Bloomberg. “We care about our relationship with Egypt. Egypt has the capability to help solve Libya’s problems.”
In the meantime, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune indicated in an interview with local chief editors on Friday that Algeria is the only country that can bring together the Libyan parties, and that both Hafter, and al-Sarraj, have expressed their willingness to accept Algerian mediation.
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