The UAE has expressed its rejection of what it considered as the "military role" of Turkey in Libya, praising the achievements of retired Major General Khalifa Haftar's forces of "fighting terrorism" in the country, according to a statement of the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
This comes just hours after Haftar forces announced the unilateral suspension of military operations in all axes of the capital, Tripoli, on the occasion of the blessed month of Ramadan.
Al Jazeera also revealed earlier - quoting informed sources - that Emirati officials - headed by National Security Adviser Tahnoon bin Zayed - arrived in the Sudanese capital last Tuesday on a secret visit to discuss support for Haftar with more mercenaries.
The statement of the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on Thursday expressed Abu Dhabi's "categorical rejection of the Turkish military role that impedes the chances of the ceasefire and prejudices the efforts of the international community to reach a comprehensive political solution."
The statement also called on all parties in Libya to commit to the United Nations-supervised political process to end the war.
The statement did not comment on Hifter’s announcement last Monday that he was governor of Libya and his demand for the forces of eastern Libya (the Libyan National Army) that he leads to seize power, effectively canceling the political “Skhirat Agreement” concluded between the parties to the conflict in 2015.
Haftar's forces announced yesterday evening a complete cessation of unilateral military operations in all axes of Tripoli on the occasion of the advent of the month of Ramadan.
"It was decided to suspend all military operations unilaterally in the Tripoli axes in response to the invitation of friendly countries, while retaining the right to respond to any breach," he said at a press conference, without elaborating.
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Recruitment of mercenaries
On the other hand, Al Jazeera learned from informed sources that Emirati officials arrived in Khartoum last Tuesday on a secret visit to discuss supporting Haftar with more mercenary fighters.
According to Al-Jazeera sources, an Emirati plane bearing the number "A6-BND" with the logo of the Manchester City football team landed in the military part of Khartoum airport on Tuesday, with prominent Emirati officials on top of them, led by UAE National Security Adviser Tahnoon bin Zayed .
Commenting on this issue, Khaled Al-Mashri, head of the Supreme Council of State in Libya, said that the internationally recognized national reconciliation government organized its ranks further after signing the military agreement with Turkey months ago.
Al-Mashri added - in an interview with Al-Jazeera - that the government forces have the ability to attack and not just defend, saying, "We do not fear any mercenaries brought by Haftar, and we will return them to their countries in coffins."
It is noteworthy that, despite its announcement last March 21 to accept a humanitarian truce called by the United Nations to focus efforts on confronting the Corona pandemic, Haftar's forces continued an attack that began on April 4, 2019, to control Tripoli, the headquarters of the Al-Wefaq government.
While the Libyan government in Moscow signed a ceasefire agreement that came into effect on January 12 with a Turkish-Russian initiative, Haftar, who is militarily supported by regional and European countries, refused to sign the agreement and continued the fighting.