No officers in the Libyan National Army were arrested for planning a coup d’état against General Commander Khalifa Haftar, head of the Security Directorate at al-Bayda city, Mohamed Abdul Salam, said Wednesday.
Abdul Salam’s statement comes to deny the allegation made by a German News Agency that he did not name.
The agency claimed that member of the Libyan National Army’s 106th Military Brigade and Tariq Bin Ziyad Battalion arrested a number of officers for attempting a coup d’état, Abdul Salam told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper Tuesday.
He added the report is based on “informed ”Libyan sources.
He emphasized that these allegations are “false,” clarifying that said officers were arrested over charges of corruption, including armed robbery.
He added that the situation in eastern Libya is “stable“.
Meanwhile, member of the House of Representatives (HoR) Said Imghib ruled out such attempts, as officers and civilians “support Haftar.“
Since Muammar Gaddafi’s ouster in 2011, Libya has spiraled into civil war between its political parties competing for the power and divisions inside its army.
There have been two major factions on the ground since 2014; one led by Haftar, who now controls the eastern side of Libya in cooperation with the HoR and the interim government, also known as the Tobruk government.
The other is led by Faiez Sarraj, head of the UN-backed Libyan Government of National Accord of the General National Congress (GNC).
