On Wednesday, the Chairman of the Supreme Council of Tebu tribes in Benghazi, Sheikh Ali Baraka, described the Tripoli-based High Council of State (HCS) as an “illegal body”.
Baraka added that the “tribes decided to stop the war and sit at the negotiating table in order to save Libya from destruction.”
In statements to Sputnik news agency, he explained that “Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar was appointed by the Libyan Parliament, which was elected by the Libyan people.” This came in response to the statements of HCS’ spokesman, Mohamed Bnias who said that “any political dialogue must take place between elected bodies, and personalities.”
Baraka stressed that “The army has a mission to maintain the security of the Libyans. It is a purely military institution, and not a political body.” He added that “the dialogue will be between political bodies, tribes, and Libyan regions.”
Bnias confirmed that the HCS strongly refused to negotiate with Haftar. He called for an end to external interference in Libya, calling on the countries involved in the conflict to respect the UNSC resolutions. This came hours after the Parliament and Government of National Accord (GNA) announced a ceasefire and agreed to hold presidential and parliamentary elections in the country.