Libya: Haftar Sees Solution in Upcoming Election

Libya's eastern-based commander Khalifa Haftar salutes as he participates in General Security conference, in Benghazi, Libya, October 14, 2017. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori
Libya's eastern-based commander Khalifa Haftar salutes as he participates in General Security conference, in Benghazi, Libya, October 14, 2017. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori
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Libya: Haftar Sees Solution in Upcoming Election

Libya's eastern-based commander Khalifa Haftar salutes as he participates in General Security conference, in Benghazi, Libya, October 14, 2017. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori
Libya's eastern-based commander Khalifa Haftar salutes as he participates in General Security conference, in Benghazi, Libya, October 14, 2017. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori

Libyan National Army (LNA) commander Khalifa Haftar described the upcoming presidential election as the only solution to the current crisis.

He did not rule out his candidacy in the polls, stressing that his main concern at the moment was to "save Libya and rid it of terrorism".

In an interview with Libya's Marsad newspaper, Haftar said that to end the crisis in the country, the people’s will must be fulfilled through elections and establishing stable legitimate political institutions.

The political solution, according to Haftar, demands the formation of a national unity government and a new presidential council composed of three members.

"But as December draws near, we see that time is barely enough to prepare the necessary requirements for elections, especially with the politicians' failure to act, and negative foreign interference in internal affairs, " he added.

On the accusation that he was "an extension of a coup project", Haftar said the Muslim Brotherhood and the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group have turned against the democratic path with the support of some regional parties that are sponsoring terrorism and chaos in the region. They have also rejected the outcomes of the parliament and the peaceful transfer of power in 2014 over baseless excuses.

Meanwhile, head of the Tawergha local council announced the release of 68 people after they were arrested by the Special Deterrence Force.

They called on Fayez al-Sarraj's Government of National Accord and the UN mission in Libya to fulfill their pledges to find a radical solution to the crisis of the displaced.



WHO Sends Over 1 Mln Polio Vaccines to Gaza to Protect Children 

Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
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WHO Sends Over 1 Mln Polio Vaccines to Gaza to Protect Children 

Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)

The World Health Organization is sending more than one million polio vaccines to Gaza to be administered over the coming weeks to prevent children being infected after the virus was detected in sewage samples, its chief said on Friday.

"While no cases of polio have been recorded yet, without immediate action, it is just a matter of time before it reaches the thousands of children who have been left unprotected," Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in an opinion piece in Britain's The Guardian newspaper.

He wrote that children under five were most at risk from the viral disease, and especially infants under two since normal vaccination campaigns have been disrupted by more than nine months of conflict.

Poliomyelitis, which is spread mainly through the fecal-oral route, is a highly infectious virus that can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis. Cases of polio have declined by 99% worldwide since 1988 thanks to mass vaccination campaigns and efforts continue to eradicate it completely.

Israel's military said on Sunday it would start offering the polio vaccine to soldiers serving in the Gaza Strip after remnants of the virus were found in test samples in the enclave.

Besides polio, the UN reported last week a widespread increase in cases of Hepatitis A, dysentery and gastroenteritis as sanitary conditions deteriorate in Gaza, with sewage spilling into the streets near some camps for displaced people.