Court rules out Haftar from presidential race

A Libyan court on Tuesday ruled to exclude Libyan National Army General, Khalifa Haftar from next month’s presidential election.

According to local media, aL-Ahar TV, Zawiya Court of First Instance accepted an appeal lodged against Haftar’s candidacy and ruled to exclude him from the list of candidates for the December 24 polls.

The court said it decided “to accept the appeal … and to cancel the decision of the High Elections Commission regarding the candidacy of Khalifa Belqasim Haftar, and excluded him from the list of candidates for the presidential election.”

With the support of Arab and Western countries and foreign mercenaries, Haftar launched a military offensive in 2019 to capture the capital Tripoli from the internationally recognized Government of National Accord.

This comes a week after the Libyan Electoral Commission announced a primary list of 73 candidates for the presidential election and another list of 25 people excluded from running for the presidency, including Saif al-Islam, son of the late Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi.

Libyans hope that the upcoming election will contribute to ending an armed conflict that has plagued the oil-rich country for years.