French scholar: Haftar’s handover of oil terminals to parallel NOC breaks away with Paris agreement

BY Libyan Express Jun 26, 2018 - 12:16

Jalel Harchaoui, Scholar focusing on Libya geopolitics at Paris 8 University

Khalifa Haftar announced Monday the handover of oil installations under the control of his self-styled army to an administration that rivals Libya’s UN-backed government, after retaking them from militias.

The strongman’s announcement came just hours after his “Libyan National Army ” said it had driven a rival force out of the country’s oil crescent and regained “full control” of the area.

Jalel Harchaoui, a scholar focusing on Libya geopolitics at Paris 8 University told Libyan News: “When the Oil Crescent attack occurred earlier this month, the Haftar camp showed an explicit willingness — rightly or wrongly — to use the security crisis as an opportunity to discredit and weaken the government of national accord in Tripoli.”

He added “The LNA’s announcement that it is now going to work with the Benghazi NOC and bypass the institutions in Tripoli, fits in the policy above.”

“The Paris Summit on May 29th saw Haftar commit to working constructively with the GNA on making sure peaceful elections take place by December 10th, 2018. The Oil Crescent debacle made it possible for Haftar to do the exact opposite.” Harchaoui explained.

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