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Libya to Retake Land From Russia-Backed Foe Before War Ends

Libya Says It Will Retake Two Cities Before Talks to End War

(Bloomberg) --

Libyan forces will retake territory from Kremlin-backed eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar and prevent Russia from establishing a base before accepting negotiations, Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha told Bloomberg on Sunday, a day after Haftar declared a cease-fire.

Upon retaking the Mediterranean city of Sirte and the Juffra base in central Libya, the internationally recognized government in Tripoli will be open to entering into political talks with the east, Bashagha said. Haftar yesterday announced in Cairo that he was ceasing his year-long offensive on the capital, and would be seeking a political process to resolve the war.

As he spoke in Cairo, Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army repelled an offensive by government forces to retake Sirte. The city on the western tip of the Haftar-controlled oil crescent has a symbolic value for the Tripoli-based government because an American-led coalition helped its forces defeat the Islamic State there in 2016 after hundreds of casualties, Bashagha said.

Sirte could prove to be a line in the sand for Haftar’s backers in Russia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. The city is a gateway to some of the country’s major oil fields and terminals. The Tripoli government had deterred Haftar’s offensive with Turkish military assistance, and Haftar’s foreign backers are unlikely to accept a Turkish-backed offensive in the east where Libya shares a border with Egypt.

“It cost us more than 718 dead youths and cost Sirte a lot of sacrifices and destruction” to rid the city of Islamic State, Bashagha said. “We will not allow Sirte to be under any authority except the legitimate authority of the Government of National Accord.”

Asked if the offensive would stop once Sirte and Juffra were retaken, Bashagha said that “there will be negotiations with the east.”

“We need to prevent Russia from setting up bases in Sirte and Juffra,” he said

Bashagha told Bloomberg that his forces would press ahead with the offensive despite what he said was a Russian warning passed on to his government not to attack the city.

Russia has backed Haftar with mercenaries and more recently deployed jet fighters to the east, according to the U.S. military. It was not immediately clear if the jets were used in the latest fighting over Sirte.

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