Libyan presidential council denounces air bombardments on Tripoli
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The presidential council of the Libyan government of national accord has strongly condemned "the continuing air bombardments targeting civilian sites in the capital, Tripoli, which have caused several losses of human lives, damages to public and private properties in addition to terrorizing citizens".
In a statement issued here Friday, the presidential council noted that the air attack against Maitigua airport on Thursday and several buildings of the government in the center of the capital on Friday morning "left several damages to the life of citizens, damaging public and private goods and terrorizing peaceful citizens".
The presidential council described the air strikes "as cowardly and treacherous, carried out at a time when the forces of the Libyan National Army (commanded by Marshall Khalifa Haftar) have welcomed the political dialogue", adding that "maybe the international community will be convinced that betrayal is the ingredient of that insurgent".
The statement added that "those repeated terrorist acts are violation of the international laws and conventions, aiming to destabilize the security and stability prevailing in the capital and lead to the assassination and intimidation of civilians in the eyes of the UN mission", calling the international community to adopt a firmly dissuasive attitude against them.
"This silence encourages the continuation of those crimes and violations," warned the Libyan presidential council.
Armed clashes broke out on 4 April on the outskirts of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, between the forces of the Libyan National Army based in the East and commanded by Marshall Khalifa Haftar and the troops loyal to the government of national accord chaired by Fayez Al-Sarraj, seating in the capital and recognized by the international community.
Over the past few weeks, the fighting went through a break despite the continuation of air raids carried out by both camps against rival positions.
At the political level, efforts are intensifying over the past few days with a multitude of meetings in line with the UN General Assembly in New York.
A meeting was held on Thursday evening between the foreign affairs ministers and co-chaired by the heads of the Italian and French diplomacies, Luigi Di Maio, and Jean-Yves Le Drian respectively.
Participating in the meeting were the UN Security Council, the USA, Russia, Great Britain and China, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Turkey, as well as regional organisations like the African Union, the Arab League and the European Union.
That conference is held as a prelude to the international conference on Libya scheduled for next autumn in the German capital, Berlin.
-0- PANA BY/IS/MSA/RA 27Sept2019
