By Libya Herald staff.
Tripoli, 4 December 2014:
A group of 30 members of the House of Representatives (HoR) has signed a petition . . .[restrict]saying that they do not support the efforts to fight terrorism in eastern Libya by retired General Khalifa Hafter’s Operation Dignity.
According to HoR member Salah Al-Sahabi, the fact that Operation Dignity has now become an essential part of the Libyan national army is dangerous not only to the developing armed forces, but also Libya has a whole.
“Operation Dignity is now the nucleus of the army”, Sahabi said. “This happened because someone had to rise up and protect the people in the East, but the army should not be built around this (or any independent) group,” he insisted. “The legal framework that has been set up in Libya clearly says that the State should not recognise any process or military action outside of the orders of the Chief of Staff,” he said.
The legitimacy of Hafter’s operation in Benghazi has been contested since it began back in May. The government remained silent on the issue for the first couple of months. In mid-November, the HoR declared that Hafter’s Operation Dignity was officially under the national army and Chief of Staff Abdul-Razzaq Al-Nazhuri. One week later, it was reported that Hafter had been reinstated into the national army. [/restrict]
