The elders and dignitaries of Zintan, 136 kilometers southwest of Tripoli, visited al-Watiya military air base, known as the Uqba bin Nafea base, Sunday on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr.
They were received by the commander of Watiya base, officers, and non-commissioned officers of the Libyan National Army (LNA’s).
Welcoming speeches from both sides were delivered before they had lunch at the base. The visiting delegation toured the facilities of the base and met with soldiers deployed therein.
The visit aims to reiterate Zintan’s full support for the parliament and the Interim Government, rejecting “illegitimate entities” and their affiliated armed groups.
The council issued an earlier statement on April 4, welcoming the LNA’s operation to “liberate Tripoli from militias.” Both the Libyan parliament and the Interim Government are based in the east, where the LNA has full control.
The LNA has been launching attacks on Tripoli since April in an attempt to seize the capital and ultimate power by military operations.
The small mountain town of Zintan enjoyed outsized influence in western Libya from 2011 until summer 2014 when its militias were driven from Tripoli by Libya Dawn.
As a result, Zintani forces lost control of key strategic sites, including Tripoli International Airport which was destroyed in the fighting.
Some later joined the so-called Tribal Army, comprising fighters from the Warshefana region on Tripoli’s hinterland and other tribal elements from western Libya, to confront Libya Dawn-allied factions. Fighting later subsided due to local ceasefires.
A number of Zintani forces have distanced themselves from the LNA – particularly those close to former Defense Minister Osama Jweili of the Government of National Accord – while others remain supportive.
Zintan played an important role in the fall of Qaddafi-controlled Tripoli in 2011.
