LibyaPolitics

Member of Ajdabiya Shura Council Moussa Ghuma arrested in Misurata

Misurata’s security forces arrested Moussa Ghuma, a member of Ajdabiya Revolutionaries Shura Council, classified as a terrorist by the Libyan authorities.

Formed in March 2015, the Ajdabiya Revolutionaries Shura Council is an Islamist militant group based in Ajdabiya, a coastal town west of Benghazi and is led by Muhammad al-Zawi, another high-profile “terrorist.” It is backed by Ansar al-Sharia and the Shura Council based in Benghazi.

Some of its members pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group (IS). The militia has been engaged mainly in fighting the Libyan National Army (LNA).

Ghuma was accused of joining Ansar al-Sharia in 2013 and IS in 2014. He fought several times the LNA when the military faced the extremists based in Ajdabiya in 2016. Then, he escaped to Misurata.

In the east, Islamist militias, some of which are affiliated with al-Qaeda, have steadily increased their numbers and weaponry since the 2011 uprising.

In May 2014, General Commander Khalifa Haftar combatted them. Hence, Hardline Islamist groups, including Ansar al-Sharia, formed the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries to fight Haftar’s army.

In July 2014, they controlled Benghazi and declared it an “Islamic caliphate.”

However, Haftar launched several conquests in Benghazi to liberate it. He launched a new offensive in October 2014. After a three-year campaign, Haftar and his LNA liberated Benghazi on July 5, 2017.

Meanwhile, member of the High Council of State (HCS) Ahmed Lanqi stressed on Sunday that Palremo should reach outcomes to unify the executive authority and the state institution, support the Government of National Accord, hold a presidential election and set mechanisms to improve the Libyan economy, and prevent illegal immigration and terrorism.

Lanqi told 218 Channel that Palermo Conference will not succeed without holding several meetings on its sidelines with Haftar, head of UN-backed government Sarraj, chairman of the HoR Aguila Saleh, and Chairman of the HCS Khaled al-Mashri. HCS advises both the GNA and the HoR.

During these meetings, the parties should come up with a plan to unify the executive authority and state institutions, particularly military institutions and consider immigrants’ return home.

Meanwhile, he remarked that the parties should also agree on the deadline for holding elections, and all the parties should vow to accept its results.

Participating parties must abide by the outcome of Palermo Conference, otherwise, it would be as futile as preceding initiatives, Lanqi anticipated.

The Palermo Conference on Libya will bring together the main Libyan parties, with the purpose of defining platforms for negotiation between the different components of Libya’s fragmented political arena.

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