Libya's GNA declines to suspend fighting during Ramzan, says it doesn't trust Haftar

The Government of National Accord (GNA), one of the two major factions in Libya's civil war and the only internationally recognised government, on May 1 declined to suspend fighting following General Khalifa Haftar's offer of a temporary truce amid Ramzan. According to reports, the GNA has said that it doesn't trust the Libyan National Army and its leader Haftar's claim of a ceasefire.

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The GNA in a statement said that it will continue conducting self-defense operations and will keep striking terror groups in their hotbeds until they stop killing innocent Libyans. The Government of National Accord is backed by Turkey, while the Tobruk-based Libyan National Army receives support from the UAE and Egypt. Even though the Government of National Accord is Libya’s internationally recognised government, it's authority remains unrecognized by the House of Representatives, currently under Haftar's control. 

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Libyan conflict

As of January 2020 the House of Representatives controls the eastern Cyrenaica region and parts of the southern Fezzan and Tripolitania regions and Sirte. The Government of National Accord controls most of the coastal Tripolitania including Tripoli and Misrata. Meanwhile, the southern region is controlled by local tribal forces and militias, such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, al-Qaeda, among others. The leaders of Libyan National Amry are supporters of deceased Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi, who was assassinated by NTC militants in 2011. 

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The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on April 30 called on all Libyan parties to come to an agreement over the United Nations supervised political process to end the six-year-long civil war in the country, but at the same time renewed its support for the Libyan National Army, commending it for conducting anti-terror operations. Turkey responded by accusing the UAE government of playing two-faced politics in the region. 

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(Image Credit: AP)