Libyan Parliament Calls on World Community to Lift Ban on Arms Deliveries to LNA

BENGHAZI (Sputnik) - The Libyan parliament, controlling the eastern part of the country, on 13 April demanded the world community to lift a ban on arms supply to the Libyan National Army (LNA), which is conducting an offensive on Tripoli, a representative of the parliament told Sputnik.

"The Libyan parliament demanded that the international community lift the ban on the supply of weapons to the LNA", the representative said.

The representative noted that lawmakers also demanded to halt "foreign interference of those parties, which do not strive for peace and stability in Libya".

The statement comes after the parliament met earlier in the day for the first time since the election in 2014 not in its home city of Tobruk, but in Libya's eastern city of Benghazi.

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Two governments compete to be the sole legitimate authority in Libya — one in the eastern part of the country controlled by the parliament elected in 2014 and backed by the LNA and UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) that is based in Tripoli and governs Libya’s western part.

LNA Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar has undertaken an offensive to retake Tripoli from the GNA-backed forces and has recaptured a number of settlements on its way to the capital. Forces loyal to the GNA announced a counteroffensive on Sunday, dubbed Volcano of Rage, to repel the LNA.