Speaker of the East Libya parliament Aguila Saleh said on Monday that head of the Government of National Accord (GNA), Fayez al-Sarraj, is incapable of providing solutions to Libya and its people as long as he remains “hostage to militias.”
In a statement responding to Sarraj’s recent political initiative to end the crisis, Saleh said: “If Sarraj can acknowledge the presence of terrorists and extremists within militia ranks, if he can stop the militia hegemony over the central bank and sovereign state institutions in Tripoli, if he can condemn their looting of public funds and recognize the Libyan National Army’s operations to combat terrorism and extremism in the West and if he can condemn the Turkish and Qatari meddling in the country, then he can provide solutions for Libya and its people.”
“There can be no state as long as the militias exist… the LNA is the protector of the constitution, law and state sovereignty,” he stressed.
Sarraj had in June proposed holding a conference for Libyan parties in coordination with the United Nations mission in the country. The meeting would bring together all Libyan forces that call for a peaceful and democratic solution to the crisis.
He made no mention of the LNA.
On Sunday, Sarraj condemned the army’s operation on Tripoli, describing it as a “coup attempt to restore totalitarian rule in the country.”
Speaking from Niger’s capital Niamey at an African Union conference, he said called on the organization to condemn last week’s airstrike against a migrant detention center in Tripoli.
He also demanded that an investigation team be dispatched to uncover the truth behind the attack.
“We are well aware that there can be no military solution to the conflict in Libya and there can be no victor. There is only one loser and it is Libya,” he stated.
He added that the GNA was relying on what he described as the AU’s important role in Libya, urging it to support his political initiative.
On the ground, the air space re-opened at Tripoli’s only functioning airport, Mitiga, on Sunday after it was halted following a fall of missiles, according to a post on the Mitiga airport authority’s Facebook page.
Three Afriqiyah airlines employees were injured and a plane was hit. No immediate comment was available from the carrier.