Libya Tensions Rise as Rivals Mobilize Forces

(Bloomberg) -- Libya’s internationally recognized leader in Tripoli issued orders to mobilize his forces as rival strongman Khalifa Haftar sent reinforcements toward the capital, sharply ratcheting tensions less than two weeks before a United Nations-backed conference.

Ahmed al-Mismari, the spokesman for Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army, suggested that Tripoli itself was the prize for the eastern-based LNA, which swept through the south in January to seize the country’s largest oil field.

The escalation came as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres landed in Tripoli, and weeks after Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj met Haftar in Abu Dhabi to negotiate a deal. International powers hoped to avert a march on Tripoli that could lead to some of the bloodiest fighting seen in the OPEC state since a 2011 civil war ended Muammar Qaddafi’s regime.

In the first clash since the LNA’s announcement, some if its troops skirmished with opponents near Asabiah, roughly 110 kilometers south of Tripoli, killing one person, said Hamed Al Nuwaiser, an official in the nearby city of Gharyan.

Both sides had been negotiating a unity caretaker government ahead of a UN-backed national conference on April 14 that may set dates for long-deferred elections. Libya watchers say Haftar might try to maximize territory under his control ahead of the conference, as a bargaining chip.

“Just as they ululated in Benghazi and Derna, the women of Tripoli will also ululate when welcoming the heroes” of the LNA, Mismari said in a press conference hours after the LNA released a video announcing the deployment of forces to the west to fight “terrorism.”

Sarraj, who commands far fewer troops than Haftar, said in a statement he ordered forces to mobilize to “confront any threats aiming at disturbing the peace in any part of the country.”

A move by the LNA into the regions surrounding Tripoli, where militias nominally in Sarraj’s camp recently announced a broad coalition, risks turning brinkmanship into a war.

“As long as Haftar’s forces do not push into Gharyan, there is still the option they could withdraw and the crisis may blow over,” said Libya expert Wolfram Lacher with the Germany SWP think tank.

The city, roughly 100 kilometers from Tripoli, is divided between pro- and anti-Haftar militias.

“If they enter Gharyan, they will trigger counter offensives from forces across western Libya,” Lacher said.

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