Libya’s Tripoli gov't orders arrest of ‘sleeper cells’

By Walid Abdullah

TRIPOLI (AA) – Libya’s Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for persons suspected of aiding an ongoing attack on the capital by forces loyal to military commander Khalifa Haftar.

Mohamed Zayed, a member of the GNA’s Presidential Council, told Libya’s Panorama television channel that Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj had ordered the arrest of suspected “sleeper cells” operating in and around Tripoli.

Last week, Haftar, who is affiliated with a rival government based in the country’s east, announced the launch of an ambitious campaign to capture the capital, where the GNA is headquartered.

By Monday, however, Haftar’s campaign appeared to have lost momentum, with pro-GNA forces recapturing two military bases near Tripoli that had been briefly seized by Haftar’s forces.

The two sides have also continued to trade blows over three strategic airports located on the capital’s outskirts.

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.

Since then, the country’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of power: one in eastern Libya, with which Haftar is associated, and another in Tripoli, which enjoys UN support.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat