TRIPOLI: Libya’s renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar has announced a conditional lifting of a months-long blockade on oilfields and ports by his forces.
In January, backers of Haftar, the commander of the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), shut down the country’s oilfields and terminals in a bid to put pressure on their rivals, the UN-recognised Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA).
The blockade caused severe losses in Libya, as oil is the country’s main source of income.
“We have decided to resume oil production and export on condition of a fair distribution of revenues” and guarantee they “will not be used to support terrorism”, Haftar said on television on Friday.
Pro-Haftar groups supported by the Petroleum Facilities Guard blockaded key oilfields and export terminals on 17 January to demand what they called a fair share of hydrocarbon revenues.
Lost revenue
The blockade, which has resulted in more than $9.8bn in lost revenue according to National Petroleum Company (NOC), has exacerbated electricity and fuel shortages in the country.
Haftar said the command of his forces had “put aside all military and political considerations” to respond to the “deterioration of living conditions” in Libya, which has Africa’s largest oil reserves.
The announcement comes after hundreds of Libyans protested last week in the eastern city of Benghazi, one of Haftar’s strongholds, and other cities over corruption, power cuts and shortages in petrol and cash.