By Libya Herald staff.
Tripoli, 11 August 2014:
It has been revealed that the Chief of Staff, Major-General Abdussalam Jadallah Al-Obeidi, ordered all . . .[restrict]sides in the conflicts in Tripoli and Benghazi to cease fire last week.
A letter, dated 6 August, but leaked on the Internet only today, instructs all parties, including Libya Shield forces, to stop fighting, in line with the House of Representatives decision No. 3, issued the same day, ordering an immediate cease fire.
Coming after Obeidi was grilled in the House of Representatives yesterday and accused by many members of partial responsibility for the current security crisis, the publication of the letter is thought to be an attempt to persuade Libyans that he has been trying to salvage the situation. This is despite the fact that yesterday he admitted that the Libya Shields, which are officially under his command and which he assigned to the capital, were “out of control”.
They are clearly not the only ones. None of the parties involved in Libya’s present violence have paid any notice to his order. [/restrict]