Libyan commander orders forces to advance westward

<p>By Jihad Nasr</p> <p><br></p> <p>TRIPOLI (AA) – Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar on Wednesday reportedly ordered his forces to deploy to western parts of the country with a view to “purging them of terrorist groups and strongholds”.</p> <p><br></p> <p>“On the orders of the commander-in-chief of the Libyan Arab Armed Forces [i.e., Haftar]… military units are being deployed to the western region,” a Haftar spokesman said in a statement posted on Facebook.</p> <p><br></p> <p>The statement did not provide the exact locations to which forces were reportedly being deployed.</p> <p><br></p> <p>The move comes amid mounting speculation that pro-Haftar forces plan to march on capital Tripoli, where Libya’s UN-backed unity government is headquartered.</p> <p><br></p> <p>Libya has remained beset by turmoil since 2011, when a bloody NATO-backed uprising led to the ouster and death of President Muammar Gaddafi after four decades in power. </p> <p><br></p> <p>Since then, Libya’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of power: one in the eastern city of Al-Bayda (to which Haftar is affiliated) and another in Tripoli. </p> <p><br></p> <p>On April 14, a UN-sponsored “national dialogue” conference will be held in Libya’s western town of Ghadames with the aim of hammering out a political “roadmap” for the troubled country’s future.</p> <p><br></p> <p>* Writing by Mahmoud Barakat</p>