The U.K. seeks to empower the Muslim Brotherhood in Libya through its support to head of the Presidency Council Faiez al-Sarraj, a Libyan lawmaker said Sunday.
“Britain is seeking more corruption and chaos in Libya to continue its control and achieve its strategic objectives,” said Tariq al-Jaroushi, member of the national defense and security committee of the House of Representatives.
“The U.K. failed in its attempt to issue a Security Council resolution to stop the operations of the national army to clear Tripoli,” Jaroushi added.
Jaroushi said Britain and Italy are “the real enemy of the Libyan people,” calling on all Libyans to support the Libyan National Army (LNA) and stand against the “British-Italian project.”
Forces backing Libya’s Government of National Accord battled to push back an offensive by the LNA, led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, on Sunday as his troops approached the gates of Tripoli after air raids overnight.
The LNA, galvanized by victories in its eastern stronghold and in the country’s desert south, announced an offensive early this month to seize the capital from the UN-recognized administration of Sarraj.
But his forces have faced fierce resistance from armed groups backing the Tripoli-based GNA, including powerful factions from the western city of Misurata.
The bloodshed has derailed efforts to bring peace to a country where jihadists and people smugglers have exploited the chaos unleashed by the overthrow of dictator Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.
