Ukraine in Arabic | Libya suspects Sudan of supporting terrorists
KYIV/Ukraine in Arabic/ Libya has intercepted a Sudanese military plane loaded with ammunition in its airspace, and declared Sudan’s military attaché persona non grata, amid growing accusations Khartoum was supporting Islamist rebels in the country.
Libya's newly elected government accused Sudan on Sunday of breaching its "national sovereignty," by flying in ammunition destined for "terrorist groups".
The government statement also said that a Sudanese military transport plane bound for a Tripoli airport under control of a militant group had entered its airspace.
“This work from the Sudanese state violates [the sovereignty] of the state of Libya and interferes into its affairs,” as saying at the statement.
Libya said the Sudanese plane had been bound for Tripoli-Matiga airport and made a refuelling stop in the Libyan desert oasis Kufra near the border to Sudan. Ammunition had been found loaded on that plane during an inspection at Kufra airport, it added.
"We, the Libyan government, firmly denounce that a Sudanese military plane has penetrated the Libyan airspace without an official permit from the Libyan government. The plane was carrying ammunition which had not been officially approved by the Libyan government," the statement said.
Libya’s renegade General Khalifa Haftar who was heading “Operation Dignity” against Islamist rebels described Sudan’s position as not “clear” regarding his country’s attempt to get rid of terrorism.
Sudan confirmed it had sent a military plane but said it had only carried equipment for a joint Libyan-Sudanese state border force. "The plane did not carry any material for armed groups in Libya", Sudan’s army spokesman al-Sawarmi Khalid told
In a related story, heavy clashes erupted between Haftar’s forces and Islamist fighters in the eastern city of Benghazi on Saturday, Reuters reported military officials as saying, one of several conflicts raging in Libya in the worst violence since Muammar Qaddafi fell in 2011.
Armed Islamists are trying to prize Benghazi’s civilian and military airport from the control of government troops allied to Gaddafi-era general Khalifa Haftar.
In response, Haftar’s forces used helicopters to bomb camps of suspected Islamist militants, military sources said.
Haftar, who was once accused by the post-revolution government of trying to stage a coup against it, has declared war on several Islamist factions and teamed up with government forces in Benghazi.
Three people were killed and three others wounded in clashes between the two sides throughout most of the day in a suburb of the port city, hospital medical staff told Reuters.
Western powers and Libya’s neighbors fear the country will turn into a failed state. The weak government is unable to control former rebels who helped topple Gaddafi but are now fighting each other for power.
Libya’s government and elected House of Representatives last month relocated to the remote eastern city of Tobruk after an armed group from the western city of Misrata seized the capital Tripoli and most government institutions.
A spokesman for Haftar’s forces, Mohamed El Hejazi, said his forces were planning a military offensive in Tripoli soon. He did not elaborate.
Those now in control of Tripoli have set up a rival parliament and government that have not been recognized by the international community.
On Saturday, local TV channel al-Nabaa showed how Omar al-Hasi, the man nominated as prime minister by the newly established Tripoli parliament, and his new cabinet took the oath.
In response the government of Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni, who was elected by the House of Representatives last week, said in a statement it sought to represent all Libyans.
