The Libyan National Army (LNA) threatened Wednesday to punish Qatar for its terrorist role in Libya and the entire region.
LNA Chief Marshal Khalifa Haftar also pledged “imminent” victory by liberating Libyan territories.
“The victory flag will soon be raised in our capital... It will become the city of peace and regain its role as the capital of all Libyans,” he said in a speech on Wednesday evening.
Haftar called on his forces to “respect Tripoli residents and maintain public facilities” but to be “ruthless and without mercy” with those who have taken up arms against them.
He addressed the citizens enthusiastically, saying “the meeting with victory is so close to the goal for which so many lives have been sacrificed.”
LNA spokesman Ahmed Mesmari has repeatedly referred to “Qatar’s terrorist role in Libya and the entire region.”
“I have presented documents that prove Qatar’s role,” Mesmari said in remarks published by Al-Arabiya website.
“We have provided names of official Qatari elements, including intelligence officers and diplomats, and explained their role in supporting terrorists whether with money or weapons,” he explained.
“The Qatari intelligence is involved in terrorist acts through bombings in Somalia," Mesmari quoted a New York Times report as saying, pointing out that time has come to punish Qatar.
Head of East Libya Parliament Aguila Saleh also said in an interview with Al-Arabiya that his country has been exposed for years to an “international conspiracy.”
“Turkey, Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood are among parties that have been conspiring against Libya,” Saleh stressed, adding that Britain and Italy had also major roles in this conspiracy.
“We are in a war against terrorist militias in Libya, and we are fighting using old weapons,” Saleh said, pointing out that the LNA is cooperating with a friendly country to receive support and arms.
Meanwhile, an Italian-flagged fishing vessel and its crew were released on Wednesday after being seized by the Libyan coastguard the same day.
“The Tramontana trawler with its entire crew has just left the port of Misrata to return to Italy,” Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s office said in a statement.
Talks with the embassy and Libyan authorities “made it possible to quickly reach a positive conclusion for a matter that seriously threatened to get complicated.”
Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Wednesday that the Libyan coastguard had seized the vessel for unclear reasons.
FM Enzo Moavero Milanesi called on his ambassador to Tripoli to act with the utmost efficiency in order to provide proper treatment for crew members and to release them quickly.
