The seizure threatened to reignite conflict over Libya’s oil resources and disrupt efforts by the United Nations -backed Government of National Accord to revive oil production and exports.
Advertisement
Libya drifted into chaos following the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi, and today is split between rival parliaments and governments in the east and west, each backed by a loose array of militias and tribes.
“The entire oil crescent region is now under our control”, Muqarief said.
Libya’s state oil company said Tuesday it planned to restart oil shipments from terminals in the center of the country after they were attacked and seized by forces opposed to Tripoli’s unity government. Oil infrastructure, production, and export must remain under the exclusive control of the National Oil Corporation (NOC) acting under the GNA’s authority.
The Brega takeover came just hours after the United States and its major European allies – which back the GNA – condemned Haftar’s offensive.
Martin Kobler, the U.N. special envoy for Libya, said military action in oil terminals was in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions dealing with the security of energy infrastructure in the country.
Military spokesman Mohammad al-Azumi told AFP that Haftar’s forces were able to take control of Zuwaytina port and secure it completely.
Italy, which has offered to lead a UN-backed peace force into its former colony when conditions on the ground allow, has recently evacuated and treated a number of GNA-loyal fighters who suffered serious injuries during an offensive against Islamic State jihadists in the city of Sirte.
He stressed that Libyan natural resources belonged to all Libyans and must be protected and exported legally under the authority of GNA’s Presidency Council.
The GNA called on loyalist forces to “protect and defend” the ports against what it called a “flagrant aggression” of Libya’s sovereignty.
The parliament backed the seizure of the terminals, with Speaker Agila Saleh saying Hifter’s forces “liberated” the terminals from “occupiers” who had hindered exports.
Advertisement
Jadhran’s militia seized the oil terminals more than two years ago and has tried to export illegally in the past. The oil authority had rejected Kobler’s deal with Jedran. The branch that issued the statement Tuesday is loyal to the GNA, but the other is aligned to the administration that Haftar supports.
