UAE renews support to Haftar after he grabbed Libya’s power

The United Arab Emirates called on Thursday on all Libyan parties to commit to the U.N.-supervised political process to end the war, while at the same time saluting the eastern Libya based-army led by general Khalifa Haftar.

Accused by critics of wanting to install a new military dictatorship, Haftar, who controls swathes of eastern and southern Libya, announced his self-styled “army” was “proud to be mandated with the historic task” of leading Libya.

Haftar claims legitimacy from an eastern-based parliament elected in 2014, but the body has not said whether it supported his move. He did not offer specifics on how he had received his “mandate” or from which institution.

The UAE statement did not comment directly on Haftar’s declaration on Monday that his army would take power, ripping up a 2015 political agreement that has been the basis for all international peacemaking efforts.

The UAE “commends the Libyan National Army for conducting anti-terror operations”, a statement by the Emirati Foreign Ministry said, expressing “its categorical rejection of the Turkish military intervention” in support of the rival, Tripoli-based Government of National Accord.

However, Russia described a power grab by Libya’s eastern-based military leader Khalifa Haftar, whom Moscow supports, as “surprising”.

Libya has been split since 2014 between areas controlled by the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli and the northwest, and territory held by eastern-based forces in Benghazi.

The conflict escalated sharply this month, with fierce fighting on several different fronts in the west of the country despite urgent calls from the U.N. and aid agencies for a truce to tackle the coronavirus crisis.

Haftar is supported by Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. The GNA is backed by Turkey.