Cease-fire over, war to resume in Libya: Pro-Haftar MP

SANAA, Yemen The war in Libya will go on as military commander Khalifa Haftar left Moscow without signing a cease-fire agreement, the speaker of the pro-Haftar House of Representatives in the eastern city of Tobruk said late Tuesday. "The cease-fire in Libya is over, and the war will resume," said Aguila Saleh Issa, speaking to Arab satellite television station Al-Ghad. “They responded positively to the cease-fire because of their respect for Russian President Vladimir Putin,” Issa said, referring to Haftar’s delegation at the cease-fire talks. Touching on the failure of militias loyal to Haftar in making headway in clashes against forces of Libya’s UN-recognized government, Issa said: "Turkey's intervention delayed us in achieving results in the fight to take back Tripoli." There are no signs of intense clashes yet in Tripoli, according to Anadolu Agency's correspondent in the region. Following talks in Moscow, the head of Libya's Government of National Accord (GNA), Fayez al-Sarraj, signed the cease-fire deal late Monday, but Haftar left for Libya early Tuesday without signing it after asking for more time to consider it. On Jan. 12, the warring sides in the Libyan conflict announced a cease-fire in response to a call by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Putin, and they gathered Monday in Moscow to sign an agreement aimed at ending hostilities and starting political dialogue. Since the ouster of late ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, two seats of power have emerged in Libya: one in eastern Libya supported mainly by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, and the other in Tripoli, which enjoys UN and international recognition.