The Head of the Presidential Council Fayez Al-Sarraj said Khalifa Haftar was encouraged to lead an offensive against Tripoli by external weapons and funding that he has been receiving over the last three years.

Speaking at Concordia International Forum in New York on Monday, Al-Sarraj said that kind of support made Haftar think his forces could enter Tripoli in 48 hours, adding that it was at a time Libya was preparing for UN-led National Conference and the UN Secretary General was in town.

"We have tried to reach political understanding with Haftar and met with him six times; the last of which was in Abu Dhabi, yet he later turned to be a trickster who is awaiting a chance to seize power by force. The offensive on Tripoli is approaching its seventh month. About 3000 people were killed, thousands were injured and hundreds of thousands displaced. Infrastructure was damaged, including the only operational airport in Tripoli." He explained.

Al-Sarraj called for forming a UN fact-finding mission and renewed that the Libyan Army forces are going to continue to defend the capital and its residents as well as the civilian state they aspire.

"I think my July-proposed initiative to end the conflict is very essential. A Libyan gathering for all who cherish a political solution and all those who don't have blood on their hands." Al-Sarraj remarked.

He explained that the initiative includes paving the way for a constitutional basis for elections with the UN supervising logistical and security conditions for the elections.