Mismari to Asharq Al-Awsat: 17,000 Terrorists Moved from Syria to Libya

Libyan National Army (LNA) spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari. (AFP)
Libyan National Army (LNA) spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari. (AFP)
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Mismari to Asharq Al-Awsat: 17,000 Terrorists Moved from Syria to Libya

Libyan National Army (LNA) spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari. (AFP)
Libyan National Army (LNA) spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari. (AFP)

Libyan National Army (LNA) spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari dismissed on Sunday claims by Interior Minister of the Government of National Accord (GNA), Fathi Bashagha, that the military could be expelled from Tarhuna city.

“Such remarks are aimed at raising the morale of the militias that are fighting with him,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat. “He is using such claims to bring in greater Turkish intervention in the fighting.”

“The militias attempted to attack Tarhuna on seven fronts in a comprehensive operation that saw the participation of Turkish drones and ground forces. They pushed with all they have and could not even come close to the city outskirts,” he stressed.

“Tarhuna will resist those who are fiercely vying to control it and cut off military supply routes,” he vowed. “We are aware of all of the militias’ targets and we are prepared for them.”

Tarhuna lies 88 kilometers southeast of the capital Tripoli and is a main supply base for the LNA’s operations in the west. Observers believe that the military loss of the city will deal it a major blow in the conflict and turn the tide against it.

Responding to Bashagha’s claims that the LNA was deliberately attacking Tripoli residents, Mismari said: “These allegations are baseless. It is odd that he is an interior minister, not a military spokesman on the ground who can report the truth of what is happening.”

The reality is that the random attacks are being launched daily by the militias from Mitiga base and the city outskirts, he stressed.

“There is a big difference between us and their targets and principles. They are defending the persistence of their militias and bases of power and money in Tripoli, while we are fighting to liberate Libya,” Mismari declared. “We are fighting for the dignity of the people and therefore, cannot strike them inside their homes and neighborhoods.”

“We are completely committed to safeguarding lives and perhaps, this is why the battle has gone longer than expected,” he added. The LNA relies more on breaching human defenses that on heavy weapons and excessive use of force.

Bashagha is not speaking from his position as minister, but rather as commander of operations and leader of the al-Marsa militia in Misrata city, he added. “He always tries to legitimize Turkey’s intervention in Libya. The latest of these attempts was the claim that the LNA was using chemical weapons during the fighting,” which Ankara would have used to legitimize its interference.

He accused Turkey of undermining the January 12 truce by bringing in large groups of Syrian and non-Syrian mercenaries. Citing sources from the pro-Ankara Syrian National Army, Mismari said more than 17,000 terrorists have been moved from Syria to Libya. Some 1,800 have gone back after being injured in fighting and more than 1,000 have been killed.

On the GNA’s recent capture of western coastal cities, he said the groups that have breached them were previously expelled from Sabratha in 2016 and it is only natural for them to carry out reprisals upon their return. He accused them of setting houses on fire, kidnapping citizens and killing youths right in front of their families.

“These terrorist and criminal actions have sent a strong message that dispels any talk that the GNA enjoys popular support,” he stressed.

“Turkey is waging a direct battle along with thousands of mercenaries,” Mismari continued. “Our forces were recently formed, assembled, organized and structured during the Benghazi battle. Turkey, on the other hand, has a strong army and is a member of NATO. It does not, however, have the principles that will allow it to achieve victory in the battle. We are defending what is right and we believe that victory will be on our side.”

“The battle still stands and we have accepted it from the start. We know our capabilities, but we have a lot of trust in the Libyan people, our real supporters,” he added

On whether the LNA fears Turkey may carry out direct strikes against its command headquarters in the east, Mismari said: “Turkey always threatens to use excessive force against the military. In fact, just days ago we witnessed Turkish military maneuvers near Tripoli. Turkey does not scare us. We know what it wants. We are a national army with a long history of heroics. We will fight to the end. This has been our predecessors’ motto as they struggled against the Italian colonizers.”



Goldrich to Asharq Al-Awsat: No US Withdrawal from Syria

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
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Goldrich to Asharq Al-Awsat: No US Withdrawal from Syria

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich has told Asharq Al-Awsat that the US does not plan to withdraw its forces from Syria.

The US is committed to “the partnership that we have with the local forces that we work with,” he said.

Here is the full text of the interview.

Question: Mr. Goldrich, thank you so much for taking the time to sit with us today. I know you are leaving your post soon. How do you assess the accomplishments and challenges remaining?

Answer: Thank you very much for the chance to talk with you today. I've been in this position for three years, and so at the end of three years, I can see that there's a lot that we accomplished and a lot that we have left to do. But at the beginning of a time I was here, we had just completed a review of our Syria policy, and we saw that we needed to focus on reducing suffering for the people in Syria. We needed to reduce violence. We needed to hold the regime accountable for things that are done and most importantly, from the US perspective, we needed to keep ISIS from reemerging as a threat to our country and to other countries. At the same time, we also realized that there wouldn't be a solution to the crisis until there was a political process under resolution 2254, so in each of these areas, we've seen both progress and challenges, but of course, on ISIS, we have prevented the reemergence of the threat from northeast Syria, and we've helped deal with people that needed to be repatriated out of the prisons, and we dealt with displaced people in al-Hol to reduce the numbers there. We helped provide for stabilization in those parts of Syria.

Question: I want to talk a little bit about the ISIS situation now that the US troops are still there, do you envision a timeline where they will be withdrawn? Because there were some reports in the press that there is a plan from the Biden administration to withdraw.

Answer: Yeah. So right now, our focus is on the mission that we have there to keep ISIS from reemerging. So I know there have been reports, but I want to make clear that we remain committed to the role that we play in that part of Syria, to the partnership that we have with the local forces that we work with, and to the need to prevent that threat from reemerging.

Question: So you can assure people who are saying that you might withdraw, that you are remaining for the time being?

Answer: Yes, and that we remain committed to this mission which needs to continue to be pursued.

Question: You also mentioned the importance of humanitarian aid. The US has been leading on this. Are you satisfied with where you are today on the humanitarian front in Syria?

Answer: We remain committed to the role that we play to provide for humanitarian assistance in Syria. Of the money that was pledged in Brussels, we pledged $593 million just this past spring, and we overall, since the beginning of the conflict, have provided $18 billion both to help the Syrians who are inside of Syria and to help the refugees who are in surrounding countries. And so we remain committed to providing that assistance, and we remain keenly aware that 90% of Syrians are living in poverty right now, and that there's been suffering there. We're doing everything we can to reduce the suffering, but I think where we would really like to be is where there's a larger solution to the whole crisis, so Syrian people someday will be able to provide again for themselves and not need this assistance.

Question: And that's a perfect key to my next question. Solution in Syria. you are aware that the countries in the region are opening up to Assad again, and you also have the EU signaling overture to the Syrian regime and Assad. How do you deal with that?

Answer: For the United States, our policy continues to be that we will not normalize with the regime in Syria until there's been authentic and enduring progress on the goals of resolution 2254, until the human rights of the Syrian people are respected and until they have the civil and human rights that they deserve. We know other countries have engaged with the regime. When those engagements happen, we don't support them, but we remind the countries that are engaged that they should be using their engagements to push forward on the shared international goals under 2254, and that whatever it is that they're doing should be for the sake of improving the situation of the Syrian people.

Question: Let's say that all of the countries decided to talk to Assad, aren’t you worried that the US will be alienated in the process?

Answer: The US will remain true to our own principles and our own policies and our own laws, and the path for the regime in Syria to change its relationship with us is very clear, if they change the behaviors that led to the laws that we have and to the policies that we have, if those behaviors change and the circumstances inside of Syria change, then it's possible to have a different kind of relationship, but that's where it has to start.

Question: My last question to you before you leave, if you have to pick one thing that you need to do in Syria today, what is it that you would like to see happening today?

Answer: So there are a number of things, I think that will always be left and that there are things that we will try to do, to try to make them happen. We want to hold people accountable in Syria for things that have happened. So even today, we observed something called the International Day for victims of enforced disappearances, there are people that are missing, and we're trying to draw attention to the need to account for the missing people. So our step today was to sanction a number of officials who were responsible for enforced disappearances, but we also created something called the independent institution for missing persons, and that helps the families, in the non-political way, get information on what's happened. So I'd like to see some peace for the families of the missing people. I'd like to see the beginning of a political process, there hasn't been a meeting of the constitutional committee in two years, and I think that's because the regime has not been cooperating in political process steps. So we need to change that situation. And I would, of course, like it's important to see the continuation of the things that we were talking about, so keeping ISIS from reemerging and maintaining assistance as necessary in the humanitarian sphere. So all these things, some of them are ongoing, and some of them remain to be achieved. But the Syrian people deserve all aspects of our policy to be fulfilled and for them to be able to return to a normal life.