BENGHAZI: Libya's military strongman Khalifa Haftar has called on all Libyans to take up arms in response to a prospective military intervention from Turkey aimed at shoring up the Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli.
The beleaguered Tripoli government, headed by Fayez Al-Sarraj, has been under sustained attack since April by Haftar, who heads a rival administration in the east.
Turkey's parliament on Thursday approved the deployment of troops to Libya after it received a request for military support from Al-Sarraj's elected government.
"We accept the challenge and declare jihad and a call to arms," said Haftar in a televised address on Friday.
He urged "all Libyans" to bear arms, "men and women, soldiers and civilians, to defend our land and our honour".
He said it was no longer a question of liberating Tripoli from the militias, but of "facing a coloniser", accusing Ankara of wanting to "regain control of Libya", a former province of the Ottoman Empire.
Meanwhile, African Union chief Moussa Faki Mahamat has expressed his grave concern over potential "interference" in Libya, after Turkey approved the deployment of troops to the conflict-torn North African nation.
Turkish lawmakers on Thursday passed a bill approving a military deployment in Libya to shore up the UN-backed government in Tripoli, which has been under sustained attack since April from a rival administration in the east of the country.
Faki said in a statement late Friday he was "deeply concerned at the deterioration of the situation in Libya and the continuing suffering of the Libyan people."
"The various threats of political and military interference in the internal affairs of the country increase the risk of a confrontation, whose motives have nothing to do with the fundamental interests of the Libyan people and their aspirations for freedom, peace, democracy and development," read the statement.
Faki urged the international community to join forces with Africa in seeking a peaceful resolution of the crisis, warning it had "dangerous consequences" for continent as a whole.
Libya has been beset by chaos since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
