Libya's Khalifa Haftar accused of coup d'etat as he puts eastern Libya under direct military rule

Libya's renegade field marshal Khalifa Haftar was accused of carrying out a coup after he declared the agreement that created a post-Gaddafi government a "thing of the past" and said he was placing eastern parts of the country under direct military rule.

In a televised address broadcast late on Monday night, Gen Haftar said his self-styled Libyan National Army was proud "proud to be mandated with the historic task" of leading Libya and would soon set about setting up state institutions to do so.

"We announce our acceptance of the people's will and mandate and the end of the Skhirat Agreement," he said, referring to a 2015 United Nations-mediated deal that produced the unity government.

He did not make clear what the announcement means for the nominally civilian parallel government that already operates the country's east.

Gen Haftar's LNA controls most of eastern and southern Libya and critics say he is already a de facto military dictator of those areas. But his legitimacy has until now been underpinned by the House of Representatives, a parliament elected in 2014.

The House of Representatives refused to approve the cabinet proposed by prime minister Fayez al-Sarraj of the UN-backed Government of National Accord in 2016, establishing a parallel administration in the city of Tobruk.

Gen Haftar claimed to be serving that government when he launched an assault on the capital Tripoli, where the GNA is based, in April 2019, sparking a civil war. 

Over the past two weeks the LNA, which is backed by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Russia, has lost a succession of towns around Tripoli, severely weakening its year-long siege.

Tarhuna, Gen Haftar's main stronghold near Tripoli, is now under heavy siege by the GNA, which is backed by Turkish forces. If it falls, the LNA may be forced to withdraw from Tripoli's suburbs, ending its chances of capturing the capital.

The United Nations has criticised indiscriminate shelling of civilians by the LNA in Tripoli and by the GNA in Tarhuna.

The GNA in a statement on Tuesday described Gen Haftar's announcement as "a farce and the latest in a long series of coups d'etat."

The General "turned his back on the parallel political institutions that backed him and designated him" head of the army, the statement said.

The United States embassy to Libya said it "regrets Libyan National Army (LNA) commander Haftar’s suggestion that changes to Libya’s political structure can be imposed by unilateral declaration" but said it would welcome any dialogue with him.

Russia, which has supplied Gen Haftar with weapons and mercenaries, on Tuesday balked at Mr Haftar's announcement and called for a diplomatic resolution to the long-standing conflict.

"Moscow is still convinced that diplomatic and political means, a political discussion between all parties of the conflict are the only possible way to solve the (conflict) in Libya," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in comments carried by Russian news agencies.

"Russia has been in touch with all the participants of the Libyan peace process, and we believe that there is no other way to settle the Libya issue."

On Monday, Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the foreign affairs committee at the upper chamber of Russian parliament, described Gen Haftar's statement as "very worrying news."

The United Nations said on Tuesday that Authorities in rebel-held eastern Libya had expelled 1,400 migrants and refugees so far this year, in violation of international law.

Additional reporting by Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow