BENGHAZI: Eastern Libyan forces have retaken from Islamist fighters the last district of Benghazi, the country’s second largest city, military officials said.
The battle for Benghazi, waged between forces led by General Khalifa Haftar and an array of Islamist militants and other fighters, has been part of a broader conflict since Libya slipped into turmoil following the 2011 fall of strongman Muammar Qaddafi.
Haftar had declared victory in July but fighting continued in one area, Khreibish.
Commander Wanis Bukhamada, head of army special forces, said the eastern forces now fully controlled the district.
“We declare in this moment the liberation of Benghazi from terrorists,” he told Reuters.
Haftar launched his “Operation Dignity” campaign in May 2014, slowly gaining the upper hand against Islamist militants and former rebels who fought Qaddafi in the 2011 uprising.
Haftar is aligned with a government and parliament based in eastern Libya. He has rejected a UN-backed government based in the capital, Tripoli, and indicated he wants to run for president in an election expected next year.
He is popular with some in the east tired of chaos but he remains a divisive figure in the rest of the North African oil-producing nation.
Eastern Libyan forces say they fully control Benghazi
Eastern Libyan forces say they fully control Benghazi
Iran and US diverge in views on sanctions relief, senior Iranian official to Reuters
- Renewed talks scheduled in early March and could possibly lead to an interim deal
DUBAI: Iran and the United States have differing views over the scope and mechanism to lift sanctions on Tehran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Sunday, adding that new talks were planned in early March. The official said Tehran could seriously consider a combination of exporting part of its highly enriched uranium (HEU) stockpile, diluting the purity of its HEU and a regional consortium for enriching uranium, but in return Iran’s right to “peacful nuclear enrichment” must be recognized.
“The negotiations continue and the possibility of reaching an interim agreement exists,” the official said. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Friday that he expected to have a draft counterproposal ready within days following nuclear talks with the United States this week, while US President Donald Trump said he was considering limited military strikes.
The senior official said Tehran will not hand over control of its oil and mineral resources but US companies can always participate as contractors in Iran’s oil and gas fields.
