- Nineteen prisoners use cutlery to break out of cells at Winchester prison
- France wants progress in Ukraine before Russia returns to G7
- Italy president begins talks to seek way out of government crisis
- Italian PM expected to resign as political chaos deepens
- Russia says US cruise missile test ‘regrettable’
- Kremlin - No date set for Normandy talks on Ukraine despite Macron meeting
- Egypt court hands out 6 death sentences on terror charges
- Putin says Russian nuclear explosion poses no threat
- Russian panel eyes alleged foreign interference in protests
- Gran Canaria wildfire triggers evacuation of thousands of people
- PM Johnson calls on Germany and France to compromise on Brexit
- Sudan's ex-president Bashir arrives at corruption trial
TEHRAN, Apr 24 - Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the internationally-recognized government in Tripoli, angrily denounced France Wednesday for supporting rival Khalifa Haftar, underlining the growing diplomatic tensions over fighting there.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - Speaking to French dailies Liberation and Le Monde, Sarraj denounced Paris for backing a "dictator" in his harshest criticism yet of French diplomacy.
France has long been suspected of offering backing to Haftar, a former army field marshal based in eastern Libya, who heads the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) and has gradually expanded his territorial control.
But on April 4, Haftar launched a drive towards Tripoli where Sarraj's UN-recognized government is based, triggering fighting that has claimed 264 deaths and left more than 1,200 wounded.
"We are surprised that France does not support our government that is democratic, but supports a dictator," Sarraj told the newspapers in comments published in French on Wednesday.
"When (French president) Emmanuel Macron called me, I warned him that public opinion was against France. We don't want Libyans to hate France. France still has a positive and important role to play," he said.
In a separate interview with Le Monde on Monday, Sarraj said France was partly to blame for Haftar's offensive on Tripoli.
"The disproportional support from France towards Haftar is what made him decide to take action and abandon the political process," he said.
France denies supporting Haftar, saying it has contact with all the actors in war-ravaged Libya where a complex mosaic of militias and political factions are competing for advantage.
Source: AFP
Your Comment