By Libya Herald reporters.
Tunis, 23 March 2016:
Deputy premier-designate Ali Gatrani is reported to have said that he will return to the . . .[restrict]Government of National Accord (GNA) once prime minister-designate Faiez Serraj “returns to the right path”.
Gatrani has walked out of the Presidency Council three times, first in January and and most recently last month, principally in disagreement over the control of the military. Seen as an ally of Libyan armed forces commander-in-chief Khalifa Hafter, Gatrani has since claimed that the GNA is controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood.
Beida-based news agency LANA has said that Gatrani had written to Serraj warning that the GNA had to be approved by the House of Representatives (HoR) in a formal vote, not by some “rigged” resolution made by a group of members operating outside of the parliament.
The HoR has continuously failed to vote on the GNA since February, because it has generally been inquorate. Additionally, its president, Ageela Saleh has maintained that he must be present for the vote. He has, however, found himself embarking on a series of foreign trips, the latest of which today saw him in the UAE. Here, according to the Emirates news agency WAM, he discussed “bilateral relations” with UAE deputy premier, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al-Nahyan. He is widely expected to be named by the EU as one of three people (the others being Nuri Abu Sahmain and Khalifa Ghwell) to be sanctioned for blocking the UN’s Libya settlement.
In his letter, Gatrani is also said to have repeated his claim that Serraj is not really interested in building a strong army and police to protect the country. Instead, he claimed, the GNA in its eagerness to get to Tripoli was negotiating its security with militias. These, he continued, were the same militias which had supported and continued to support terrorism. [/restrict]
