ICC Ready To Look Into Possible Crimes By LNA In Libya In Late July - GNA

ICC Ready to Look Into Possible Crimes by LNA in Libya in Late July - GNA

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has agreed to send its team of experts to start an investigation into alleged crimes committed by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) against civilians in the capital of Tripoli and in the town of Tarhunah in the second half of July, the Foreign Ministry of the Government of National Accord (GNA) said on Tuesday

CAIRO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th July, 2020) The International Criminal Court (ICC) has agreed to send its team of experts to start an investigation into alleged crimes committed by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) against civilians in the capital of Tripoli and in the town of Tarhunah in the second half of July, the Foreign Ministry of the Government of National Accord (GNA) said on Tuesday.

In late June, the head of the western-based government, Fayez Sarraj, called on the ICC to urgently send a team of specialists to look into actions of the rival LNA. Prior to this step, the GNA stated that it had allegedly discovered mass graves in Tarhunah, the control of which the GNA had established following the LNA's withdrawal from the town.

"The International Criminal Court has welcomed a request of the chairman of the [GNA] Presidential Council, Fayez Sarraj, and agreed to send a team to investigate crimes of Haftar's militia in Tarhunah and in the south of the capital of Tripoli," the ministry said in a statement on Facebook.

ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda expects that the team's mission will start in the second half of July, the statement read, adding that Bensouda stresses the need for cooperation with the Libyan authorities on the matter.

For almost a decade, Libya has been split between two rival administrations, the Tripoli-based GNA, backed by Turkey, and the Tobruk-based parliament, supported by Egypt and working in cooperation with Haftar's LNA.

Over the past month, troops affiliated with the GNA have made major military gains against Haftar's army. The western-based government has stated that it wants to seize the strategic city of Sirte, currently under the control of Haftar's forces.

On June 6, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi had a meeting with Haftar and the eastern parliament's speaker, Aguila Saleh. After the meeting, the leader of Egypt announced the so-called Cairo initiative, which includes a ceasefire throughout Libya from June 8 and the terms of a political settlement.

The initiative was supported by Russia, the United States, and several Arab states. Meanwhile, Turkey and its allied GNA rejected it.