Libya rejects Arab League statement

By Hussein Mahmoud Ragab Elkabany and Ali Semerci

TRIPOLI (AA) - Libya's UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) criticized the Arab League on Thursday over its statement referring to "foreign interference" in the country.

The statement by the league’s General Secretariat that the intervention of non-Arab countries in Libya is unacceptable is a wrong assessment, said the country’s Foreign Ministry.

"Is there any greater intervention than the Arab countries' airstrikes on the capital, Tripoli, to help illegal militants trying to take over and change the system of governance?" it said.

While noting that one of Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit’s tasks is to try to resolve any dispute between Arab countries, the ministry noted there has been no attempt to stop the attacks on Tripoli.

"Military interventions of non-Arab countries against Arab lands are rejected by all Arab states," Gheit said Wednesday, according to a source from the General Secretariat.

Turkey’s parliament ratified a motion Thursday authorizing the government to send troops to Libya.

"Libya's national consensus government made a military request to Turkey in its struggle against threats to Libya's unity and stability," the motion said.

In April, forces of East Libya-based commander Khalifa Haftar launched a military campaign to capture Tripoli from the internationally recognized government.

On Nov. 27, Ankara and Libya's GNA signed two separate pacts: one on military cooperation and the other on maritime boundaries of countries in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Libya has remained beset by turmoil since 2011 when a bloody NATO-backed uprising led to the ouster and death of long-serving President Muammar Gaddafi after more than four decades in power.

Since then, Libya’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of power -- one in Tobruk and another in Tripoli -- and a host of heavily armed militia groups.