Libya’s Haftar Says Suspends Military Role ahead of Polls

LNA commander Haftar in Athens in January 2020. (AFP)
LNA commander Haftar in Athens in January 2020. (AFP)
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Libya’s Haftar Says Suspends Military Role ahead of Polls

LNA commander Haftar in Athens in January 2020. (AFP)
LNA commander Haftar in Athens in January 2020. (AFP)

Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Khalifa Haftar said Wednesday he was suspending his military activities, a step which could lead to his candidacy in elections later this year.

In a statement, Haftar said he had named an interim replacement as head of the LNA until December 24, the date of the legislative and presidential vote.

Libyan media said the step opens the way for Haftar to run as a presidential candidate under a controversial new law.

Parliamentary speaker Aguila Saleh earlier this month ratified legislation governing the presidential ballot and which critics say bypassed due process to favor his ally Haftar.

They cite a clause stipulating that military officials may stand in presidential polls, on condition that they withdraw from their roles three months beforehand -- and that, if unsuccessful, they will receive backpay.

That would allow for a presidential run by Haftar, whose forces control eastern Libya, where the parliament is based, as well as parts of the south.

Haftar had waged a year-long assault on Tripoli before reaching a formal ceasefire with his western opponents in October last year.

Libya has seen months of relative peace since the agreement, with a new unity government taking power early this year charged with leading the country until the December elections.

The lull in violence and a United Nations-led transition process have sparked hopes that Libya could move on after a decade of violence that followed the fall and killing of longtime leader Moammar al-Gaddafi in a 2011 revolt.

But on Tuesday Libya’s parliament passed a no-confidence vote in the unity government, raising questions about plans for the December ballot.

A majority of lawmakers who attended the lower house session -- overseen by Saleh -- in the eastern city of Tobruk voted to withdraw confidence from the Tripoli-based unity administration of interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, spokesman Abdallah Bliheq said.

An upper house based in the capital rejected the vote, saying it violated established procedures, and laying bare once more the extent of divisions between the country’s east and west.

Germany, which has played a leading role in diplomacy to end Libya’s conflict, called Wednesday for the elections to go ahead.

"The international community expects Libyan officials in Tripoli and the rest of the country to work for presidential and legislative elections to take place as scheduled on December 24," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said as he co-chaired a high-level meeting on Libya at the UN.

Maas also called for renewed efforts to remove foreign mercenaries from Libya.

The United Nations estimates there are more than 20,000 mercenaries, including Russians, Syrians, Chadians and Sudanese, as well as foreign troops, most of them Turkish, deployed in Libya.



Kurdish Fighters Leave Northern City in Syria as Part of Deal with Central Government

A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
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Kurdish Fighters Leave Northern City in Syria as Part of Deal with Central Government

A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)

Scores of US-backed Kurdish fighters left two neighborhoods in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo Friday as part of a deal with the central government in Damascus, which is expanding its authority in the country.

The fighters left the predominantly Kurdish northern neighborhoods of Sheikh Maksoud and Achrafieh, which had been under the control of Kurdish fighters in Aleppo over the past decade.

The deal is a boost to an agreement reached last month between Syria’s interim government and the Kurdish-led authority that controls the country’s northeast. The deal could eventually lead to the merger of the main US-backed force in Syria into the Syrian army.

The withdrawal of fighters from the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) came a day after dozens of prisoners from both sides were freed in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city.

Syria’s state news agency, SANA, reported that government forces were deployed along the road that SDF fighters will use to move between Aleppo and areas east of the Euphrates River, where the Kurdish-led force controls nearly a quarter of Syria.

Sheikh Maksoud and Achrafieh had been under SDF control since 2015 and remained so even when forces of ousted President Bashar al-Assad captured Aleppo in late 2016. The two neighborhoods remained under SDF control when forces loyal to current interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa captured the city in November, and days later captured the capital, Damascus, removing Assad from power.

After being marginalized for decades under the rule of the Assad family rule, the deal signed last month promises Syria’s Kurds “constitutional rights,” including using and teaching their language, which were banned for decades.

Hundreds of thousands of Kurds, who were displaced during Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war, will return to their homes. Thousands of Kurds living in Syria who have been deprived of nationality for decades under Assad will be given the right of citizenship, according to the agreement.

Kurds made up 10% of the country’s prewar population of 23 million. Kurdish leaders say they don’t want full autonomy with their own government and parliament. They want decentralization and room to run their day-to day-affairs.