Libya’s Chief of General Staff Muhammad al-Haddad and the head of the Presidential Council, Mohammad Younes Menfi, discussed unifying the country’s military institutions in a meeting held Tuesday, according to a statement made by the council.
The meeting touched upon establishing a mechanism to unify the military institutions, creating an army free from political disputes and supporting a civilian state structure.
Officials also discussed securing the borders of the country, fighting illegal migration and organizing armed groups across Libya.
Selected through a United Nations-led process, Libya’s new interim government, the Government of National Unity (GNU), was sworn in on March 15, created from two rival political groups that had ruled eastern and western regions, completing a smooth transition of power after a decade of violent chaos.
In April 2019, Libya’s putschist Gen. Khalifa Haftar and his forces, backed by Egypt, Russia, France and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), launched an offensive to try and capture the capital, Tripoli. His 14-month campaign collapsed, and the fall of Tripoli was prevented after Turkey stepped up its military support of the United Nations-backed government.
The former Libyan defense minister had said the Turkish military would provide assistance to restructuring the Libyan Army into a regular army based on the model that was used in training the Azerbaijani army.
The Libyan Army is currently an informal amalgamation of militias, tribal soldiers and clansmen. The process by Turkey and Qatar would standardize training and recruitment and make it an official army.
