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By Libya Herald reporters.
Tunis, 16 April 2017:
The House of Representatives (HoR) in Tobruk has slammed the “unconstitutional decision” by the Presidency Council (PC) to ask for international help as fighting in southern Libya escalates.
The HoR also said in a statement that Chadian mercenaries were operating against Khalifa Hafter’s Libyan National Army (LNA) in the south. While some of these fighters were on the brink of being arrested, the HoR claimed others had fled home and could be seen “confessing” on Chadian TV stations to what they had done.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in Libya today described the involvement of Chadian “paramilitaries” as a war crime. They are alleged to have been fighting alongside the Misratan Third Force and Benghazi Defence Brigades (BDB) against the LNA in the region.
The Al-Qaida-linked BDB has been known to recruit Chadian mercenaries into its ranks. But equally the LNA is believed to have used Sudanese nationals.
The NHRC said it considers the use of foreign fighters a “dangerous development” and an obstruction to peace in the region. It would only hinder efforts to combat terrorism and National Dialogue’s efforts to find reconciliation.
Similarly, the HoR said that the fighting in the south would only benefit militia leaders, human traffickers and drugs and weapons smugglers. The LNA was doing all it could to prevent this the HoR insisted.
Parliament called on the international community to respect the “will of the Libyan people and its democratic institutions,” including itself as the country’s freely elected legislature.
