Militia Commander Acknowledges Turkey in Control of W. Libya

Arab World

August 30th, 7:46am

Cairo – Khaled Mahmoud

People are seen shopping at a market in the old city of Tripoli, Libya. (Reuters)

Salah Badi, a Libyan militia leader, acknowledged that Turkey is effectively in control of western Libya. Badi, commander of the al-Somoud Brigade that is loyal to the Tripoli-based transitional authority, said Saturday: “We used to control positions, while today we have been stripped of everything.” “We control nothing and Turkey now controls everything, even foreign policy,” he added, revealing that he is barred from traveling. Badi, who is wanted internationally for war crimes, said the 2019 war on Tripoli was actually part of a Russian-Turkish agreement that would see the defeat of the Libyan National Army (LNA), commanded by Khalifa Haftar. He explained that the agreement stipulated that the LNA would be defeated militarily, while it would continue to wield political power. Moreover, Badi said that holding elections in December is unviable. Transparent elections cannot be held while foreign mercenaries are deployed in the country, he remarked. He called for the withdrawal of the mercenaries and foreign forces. Everything happening in Libya is connected to foreign meddling, he added, demanding that a probe be launched in all developments that have taken place since 2011, even saying he was prepared to appear in court to be held accountable for his actions.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3160416/militia-commander-acknowledges-turkey-control-w-libya