Libyan diplomat on Qatari assassination attempt in Libya

CAIRO – 16 June, 2017: Libya’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia has claimed Qatar supported terrorist and extremist groups inside Libya and provided extremists with funds in Tripoli, including the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafist militias in Benghazi and Sirt.

Libyan Ambassador Abdel Baset Al-Badri revealed Qatar’s role in an assassination attempt against Libya’s General Commander Khalifa Haftar in a video published Friday on YouTube. “Qatar is responsible for the House of Representatives’ blast attempt in the city of Tobruk, near the border of Egypt, to impede the political accord,” Badri stated in a statement.

In June 2014, Haftar survived a suicide attack in which three of his guards were killed. Haftar was seen as “purging” Libya in the “Dignity Operation” against terrorist militias in Libya at the time.

Badri accused Doha of driving a wedge between Libyan parties by funding extremists and terrorist groups, most importantly the Brotherhood-affiliated Justice and Construction Party.

Libya will submit an official complaint to the United Nations and its Security Council calling for holding Qatar accountable for crimes committed against the Libyan people, he said.

Relatedly, Libya’s Army Chief of Staff General Abdel Razzak al-Nazouri accused Qatar of plotting to assassinate former Chief of Staff General Abdel Fatah Younis in 2011.

“When Younis opposed the presence of the Qatari Chief of Staff in Qatar and Qatari support to Muslim Brotherhood leaders, Qatar decided to assassinate Younis,” Nazouri disclosed in a televised interview with Sky News on Tuesday.