Reports of sporadic gunfire and road blocks leading into Tripoli later emerged.
The Presidential Council was formed under a UN-mediated peace deal late last year in an effort to end the political chaos and conflict that has beset the country since the uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi five years ago.
It is supposed to replace the two rival administrations - one based in Tripoli, the other in the eastern city of Tobruk - that have been battling each other for more than a year.
Tripoli's self-declared government and armed groups that back it had in recent days warned the unity government not to travel to Tripoli.
- But seven members of the council, including its head and Prime Minister-designate Fayez al-Sarraj, arrived in the Libyan capital by sea and set up a temporary seat of power at a naval base.
- The officials were prevented from flying into Tripoli by the rival government.
Yet, in his first remarks after Sarraj's arrival, the head of the acting government reiterated his opposition to the Government of National Accord and urged its members to either surrender or leave.
"The government of national salvation calls on those illegitimate infiltrators to either hand themselves over and be in safe hands, or to go back to where they came from," Khalifa al-Ghawi, leader of the General National Congress, told reporters.
"The salvation government is working with judicial and legislative entities, all state institutions and NGOS, as well as community leaders to take the necessary steps to save the country from the threat of chaos and foreign intervention."...
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
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Libya's unrecognized authorities in control of Tripoli on Wednesday demanded that the head of a UN-backed unity government Fayez al-Sarraj leave just hours after he arrived in the capital...
ReplyDeleteIn a televised address, the head of the Tripoli authorities Khalifa Ghweil said Sarraj's government was "illegal", asking him to leave the capital or to "hand himself in".
Sarraj, who was named prime minister-designate in December under a UN-brokered power-sharing deal, arrived at a naval base in Tripoli Wednesday following growing international calls for Libya's rival political camps to unite behind his administration.
"Those who entered illegally and secretly must surrender or turn back," Ghweil said. "We won't leave Tripoli as long as we are not sure of the fate of our homeland."
Libya has had two rival administrations since mid-2014 when a militia alliance overran the capital, setting up its own authority and forcing the internationally recognized parliament to flee to the country's remote east.
AFP