Libya’s Military Chief of Staff Abdel Raziq Al Natouri revealed the Qatari government of attempting to assassinate Libyan military leader Khalifa Haftar using a car bomb. It also accused the tiny state of involving in the assassination of Libya’s former Interior Minister Abdel Fattah Younis during the uprising against former leader Muammar Al Gaddafi.
He added that the Libyan National Army has accused Qatar of being behind the killing of Major-General Abdul Fatah Younus and making a bid on the life of army chief Khalifa Haftar. Army spokesperson says Libyans will not allow Qatar to “play with their future.”
Addressing a press conference in Benghazi on Wednesday evening, Ahmad Mesmari, spokesperson for the Libyan National Army, known as Haftar’s forces, said that Qatar destroyed the whole Arab country. He said Libya did not have any dealing with Qatar since 2012 because of its support to the terrorist groups”. “The destructive role of Qatar in Libya will come to an end soon,” Mesmari was quoted as saying by press reports.
Libya plans to file a case against Qatar at the International Criminal Court over its role in a [series] of assassinations in Libya,” Mesmari said, accusing Qatar of being behind the killing of Major-General Abdul Fatah Younus and a bid on the life of Army Chief Khalifa Haftar. Younus, who had been head of the Free Libya’s Army, was killed in July 2011.
Libya was among the Arab countries that cut their diplomatic relations with Qatar earlier this week over its policies of supporting terrorism.
One of the Libya’s three rival governments decided to cut diplomatic ties with Qatar after Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt and Yemen did so. The decision to cut diplomatic relations with Qatar was made because of its “black record” in Libya since the ousting of the former regime of Muammar Gaddafi. Mohammad Al Deri, the Libyan foreign minister of the interim Libyan government, accused Qatar of “harbouring terrorism” according to Libyan official news agency LANA.