Russian minister, Libyan commander discuss North Africa

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu and Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar have discussed security issues in the Middle East and North Africa in a videoconference, according to the Russian Defense Ministry on Friday.

In particular, they examined the fight against international terrorism and resolving the crisis situation in Libya, the ministry said in a statement.

"Today, on May 4, defense minister of the Russian Federation, Army Gen. Sergey Shoygu has held talks on videoconference with the Libyan National Army Commander, Marshall Khalifa Haftar.

“They discussed the security issues in the Middle East region and North Africa. In particular, the questions of the fight against terrorism and resolving the crisis situation in Libya," it said.

Libya has suffered a protracted political crisis since 2011, when a bloody uprising ended with the ouster and death of President Muammar Gaddafi after more than four decades in power.

Since then, the country’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of government and a host of heavily-armed militia groups.