Libya's military judiciary demands arrest of renegade Gen. Haftar

By Muhammad Artima

TRIPOLI, Libya (AA) - Libya's military prosecutor on Thursday demanded that orders to arrest renegade Gen. Khalifa Haftar be carried out, according to Libyan TV channel Al-Ahrar.

The Military Prosecutor's Office chaired by Mohammed Gharouda conveyed a message to the Criminal Investigation Agency demanding "implementation of arrest orders issued by the Public Prosecution by the competent judicial officer” for five cases in 2019-2020.

The office did gave no more details on the five cases, but it said Haftar violated military law by running for president as "Haftar is an officer in the Libyan army and has performed the nomination procedures for the High National Elections Commission."

It stressed that such violation “shall be punished with imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years.”

Nearly 100 candidates have registered to run in Libya’s Dec. 24 presidential elections, including Haftar, transitional Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, and former strongman leader Muammar Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, who was disqualified Wednesday by a Libyan court over committing war crimes.

The presidential and parliamentary elections are set to take place under a UN-sponsored agreement reached by Libyan political rivals last November.

The application deadline for those wishing to run for president was Nov. 22. Nominations for parliamentary polls remain open through Dec. 7.

Libyans hope that the upcoming elections will help end the armed conflict that has plagued the oil-rich country for years.

* Writing by Mahmoud Barakat