CAIRO — The Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter, organized a major celebration on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the founding of an armed forces for Libya on Aug. 10 in the Abu Rawash area west of the Egyptian capital Cairo.

Although the LNA is less than a decade old — founded in 2011 after forces forces aligned to the National Transitional Council defeated the army of Moammar al-Gadhafi — Hifter has sought to present it as the only legitimate armed forces, and thus the successor of the Libyan army founded in 1940 to liberate the country from the Italian occupation.

The ceremony was attended by LNA spokesperson Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Mesmari, Libyan Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdul Hadi al-Hawaij, LNA director of the Moral Guidance Department Brig. Gen. Khaled al-Mahjoub, Libyan parliament member Mohammed al-Abani, a number of Libyan tribal sheikhs, several figures affiliated with the Egyptian Ministry of Defense and various Egyptian parliament members.

In a speech during the celebration, Mesmari stressed the need for Turkey to leave Libya's political and military scene, indicating that this commemoration is a “clear message to the conspirators and to the colonialists that [the Libyans] will not neglect their land and their dignity nor the Arab world.”