Representatives of retired Libyan Major General Khalifa Haftar in the Joint Military Committee (5+5) announced the suspension of their work in the committee until their demands are met, including stopping cooperation with the national unity government, not exporting oil, and closing the coastal road linking the east and west of the country.

In a statement, they accused the Prime Minister of the National Unity Government, Abdel Hamid Dabaiba, of violating the political agreement and violating human rights.

The position of Haftar’s representatives in the Military Committee came, according to a video statement, in response to the Dabaiba government’s refusal to hand over power to the government appointed by Parliament in Tobruk (east), headed by Fathi Pashaga.

The Joint Military Committee includes 5 members from the military establishment in western Libya and 5 from the Haftar forces in the east, who have been conducting a dialogue for two years to unify the Libyan military establishment under the auspices of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya.

For his part, Major General Ahmed Al-Mismari, a spokesman for Haftar's forces, denied that the latter or the government assigned to the House of Representatives, headed by Bashagha, had issued orders to close the country's oil ports and fields.

This came in a brief statement by Al-Mismari on his official Facebook page after midnight last night.

Al-Mismari said - commenting on the circulating of news that Haftar and the government designated by the House of Representatives issued instructions to start the gradual closure of all ports, oil fields and gas pipelines, starting today, Sunday - that it is "fake news that has no basis in truth."

demonstration

On March 11, residents and activists in the Libyan Oil Crescent region threatened - in a statement issued during a demonstration they organized - to close and stop the export of oil from the ports in the region (60 percent of the country's oil exports) if the United Nations mission to Libya continues to support the unity government. nationalism, which they described as "end-of-state".

In earlier times, the United Nations Mission to Libya, the European Union, the Adviser to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the United States warned against using the Libyan oil sector for the benefit of any party in Libya.

The country was due to hold elections last December, as part of a UN-backed peace process, but the elections were postponed due to factional disagreements over voting rules.

After the electoral process collapsed, the parliament said that the term of the Dabaiba government had ended and chose Bashagha to lead a new transitional period that would lead to elections next year, in a move rejected by other factions, and Dabaiba said he would not resign until after the elections.