The Libyan National Army (LNA), commanded by Marshall Khalifa Haftar and controlling southern and eastern Libya, is conducting what officers describe as its biggest military exercise yet -- and a message for both friends and foes.At the entrance of a sprawling military encampment some 100 kilometres away from Derna, a towering portrait of Haftar overlooked the scene.The sand whipped across a barren landscape as armoured vehicles sped along.The two-week exercises, which AFP journalists were permitted to observe during a visit over the weekend, will culminate on May 19 to mark the anniversary of the LNA's 2014 "Operation Dignity" campaign against jihadist groups, including the Islamic State, in Benghazi.The campaign allowed Haftar's forces to wrest control over the east and ultimately parts of southern Libya.Haftar, 82, and his sons -- including Saddam, his heir apparent -- will attend the display of firepower on May 19, along with foreign and Libyan officials.
The drills have deployed a panoply of military hardware -- including tank formations and Russian-made Pantsir air-defence systems -- with over 25,000 troops, said General Omar Mrajah Al Jedid, the officer overseeing the exercises.General Abdallah Noureddine, another senior commander supervising operations near the village of El Ezzeiat, told AFP the manoeuvres were "a message for our friends and our foes".Several reports have said that the United States, through Trump's senior adviser on Arab and African affairs Massad Boulos, is trying to promote a rapprochement between Libya's eastern and western authorities, signalling a potential shift in power structures.The legislative bodies of both authorities last month signed a US-mediated agreement to unify public spending across the divided country for the first time in over a decade.- 'Army for all Libyans' -
