London-based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat said the commander of the self-proclaimed army in eastern Libya, Khalifa Haftar, has rejected an offer from the Head of the Presidential Council, Fayez Al-Sirraj, to share power in Libya.
The newspaper cited a high ranking official, whose name it did not mention, as saying that a delegate for Al-Sirraj met with Haftar - with the help of two Arab countries - in Rajma outside Benghazi and delivered a letter with the offer.
"A new presidential council for the Government of National Accord (GNA), reshuffling the cabinet before the elections this year, keeping Haftar on top of the military institution, placing the defense ministry under the command of Haftar, giving him ministerial portfolios and appointing top officials and ambassadors overseas." Al-Sirraj's offer goes.
Haftar rejected the offer, the newspaper said, adding that he told the delegate to inform Al-Sirraj that he believes "GNA" is illegitimate as the mandate ended last December.
The Libya Observer could not verify the details of Sharq Al-Awsat's report, however; the spokesman for Al-Sirraj, Mohamed El Sallak, tweeted this noon that Al-Sirraj offered no deals to any party in Libya, thus welcoming any initiatives that can solve the Libyan political deadlock.
Meanwhile, west-based forces and armed brigades loyal to the Presidential Council still reject imposing Haftar as the commander in chief for the Libyan army.
Moreover, Cairo meeting, where officers loyal to Al-Sirraj and Haftar gathered, ended without any tangible results, especially after the threats posed to Al-Sirraj by the commanders of western armed groups saying they would seize control of Tripoli if his and Haftar's officers came to terms that the latter would be the chief of the army.
