Anti 4 Oct 16

Oct 4, 2016 | Libyan actors

Over the last two weeks, Abdul Razak Nazhouri, the LNA Chief of Staff and military governor of the Eastern region, has replaced the mayors of Benghazi, Ajdabiya, Shahat, Al Abyar and Kufrah with military officers, while the mayors of Tubruq and Sloug have also requested that Nazhouri appoint replacements for them. On 1 October, tribes from the oil crescent region reaffirmed their support for the LNA at a meeting held in Ajdabiya.  On 2 October, a meeting of 60 local mayors in Tripoli, which was attended by UN envoy Martin Kobler and PM Fayez Serraj, stated that the GNA ‘will not allow’ the local governance or democratic process to be ‘hijacked’.

In Tripoli and Misrata, fears are growing stronger among Islamist and anti-Haftar factions that they may be excluded from the UN peace process framework in favour of Haftar. In Misrata, there were reports this week of secret negotiations taking place between the (Misratan) Halbous and Mahjoub brigades and Haftar’s interlocutors.