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Libyan leader questions UAE’s goals in his country

January 21, 2020 at 2:38 pm

Chairman of the Presidential Council of Libya and Prime Minister of the Government of National Accord of Libya Fayez Al-Sarraj on 7 December 2017 [Cüneyt Karadağ/Anadolu Agency]

Libya’s Prime Minister Fayez Al-Sarraj has questioned the goals of the UAE which is, he says, “interfering” in his country.

The head of the internationally-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), has had enough of Abu Dhabi’s meddling in the war-torn North African state.

Speaking to Al Jazeera earlier today, Al-Sarraj questioned the intensions of the UAE because of its backing for renegade General Khalifa Haftar, who is widely regarded as a war lord heading the so-called Libyan National Army (LNA).

The GNA leader denounced the UAE for backing Haftar and pointed out that it has no common border with Libya, which “raises a question about its goals in interfering in Libya”.

READ: Former president accuses Saudis, UAE and Egypt of leading counter-revolution in North Africa 

He went on to question Abu Dhabi’s reasons for establishing a military base on Libyan sovereign territory.

The UAE’s destabilising role in North Africa is said to go much deeper than this. Libyan officials allege that Abu Dhabi obstructed last week’s ceasefire agreement in Moscow.

The GNA accepted the proposed deal and signed the document drafted by Turkish and Russian mediators, whereas Haftar left Moscow without signing the deal, apparently at the instigation of the government in Abu Dhabi.

The UAE has attracted sharp criticism over its role in Libya and elsewhere. Since the so-called Arab Spring, the small Gulf state has been flexing its financial muscles across the region, using its fortune and an army of mercenaries to undermine governments and democratic reform.