"Accordingly, the Presidential Council, as the supreme commander of
army, demands all Libyan military forces wait for it to appoint a joint
leadership for the Sirte operation," the statement said.
Libyan government urges factions to hold off attacking Islamic State in Sirte(Reuters)
Libya's U.N.-backed unity government called on Thursday on military factions to hold off from any campaign against the Islamic State-controlled city of Sirte until a unified military command structure is created.
The
statement came amid signs that factions from both eastern and western
Libya could be gearing up for an advance on Sirte, although such
operations have repeatedly been announced in recent months without
taking place.
Islamic State has held Sirte since
2015, taking advantage of a conflict between loose alliances of armed
brigades allied to Libya's rival governments to seize a 250-km
(155-mile) strip of coastline around the central Mediterranean city,
which lies between the eastern and western power bases.
Western states are hoping the unity government, which arrived in Tripoli
last month, will be able to make Libya's armed factions work together
against the ultra-hardline militant group, and have said they are ready
to provide training for Libyan forces if requested by the unity
government.
The United States has already conducted air strikes against Islamic State militants in Libya.
The
unity government's leadership, or Presidential Council, said on
Thursday it welcomed the "push by various factions and armed forces to
fight Islamic State forces in Sirte", but warned that an uncoordinated
offensive could lead to civil war.
"In the
absence of coordination and unified leadership ... the Council expresses
its concern that the battle in Sirte against Daesh (Islamic State) will
be a confrontation between those armed forces," it said in a statement, adding such a conflict would likely benefit Islamic State.
"Accordingly,
the Presidential Council, as the supreme commander of army, demands all
Libyan military forces wait for it to appoint a joint leadership for
the Sirte operation," the statement said.
'BY LIBYAN HANDS'
In
a recorded statement later on Thursday, the head of the council and
prime minister of the unity government, Fayez Seraj, said his ministers
had started coordinating security arrangements with the army "to start liberating Sirte", and were looking to set up a national joint operations room.
Islamic State would be rooted out "by Libyan hands and not through foreign intervention," he said.
Since
2014, Libya has had two competing sets of governments and parliaments
in Tripoli and the east. Both were backed by shifting coalitions of
military factions and former rebels.
The unity
government has been gradually establishing itself in Tripoli, displacing
the self-declared administration that had been set up in the capital.
But
it has failed to secure a vote of approval from the eastern parliament,
or House of Representatives, amid opposition from hardline allies of
Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the eastern military.
The
hardliners say they are worried the military will not be protected
under the new government, and have opposed a clause that would give it
power over military appointments.
The military in
the east has been making significant gains on the ground against
Islamist and other opponents in Benghazi, Libya's second city.
It said on Thursday it was "fully ready for the battle of Sirte and was waiting for orders" from Haftar.
Witnesses told Reuters dozens of armoured vehicles and ambulances had been mobilising for the operation.
Reports
and pictures have been circulating on social media in recent days that
brigades from the western city of Misrata were also mobilising for a
campaign against Sirte.
No one from the military
operations room in Misrata was immediately available to confirm the
reports, but commanders from the city have previously said they intend
to launch an offensive.
Brigades from Misrata have
been militarily strong since playing a major role in the NATO-backed
campaign to topple Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Forces from Misrata
abandoned ground operations against Islamic State in Sirte last year,
but have continued to conduct air strikes over the city.
Eastern military officials said there had not been any coordination with forces in Misrata over a new campaign against Sirte.
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