Hifter’s forces rebuff Tripoli’s call for cease-fire in Libya war
LNA spokesman Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Mismari said Tripoli's call for a cease-fire is not serious.
The spokesman for rogue general Khalifa Hifter’s self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) rejected a UN-backed call for a cease-fire put forth by Libya’s Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA).
Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Mismari alleged Sunday that last week’s call for a cease-fire by western Libya’s Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj was a ruse. “There is a military buildup and transfer of equipment to target our forces in Sirte,” Mismari said during a press conference.
“If Sarraj wanted a cease-fire, he would have pulled his forces back, not advanced toward our units in Sirte,” Mismari said, adding that the LNA was prepared to fight any advance toward Sirte.
Mismari did not acknowledge Aguila Saleh’s acceptance on Friday of the GNA’s cease-fire invitation. Saleh, the head of eastern Libya’s parliament, is aligned with Hifter’s forces but has limited influence over them.
