LIBYA’S UN-recognised government said today its allies had lifted the siege of Tripoli after securing control of the airport.

All entry and exit points to the capital were now under the control of government-allied militias, spokesman Mohamed Gnono said.

The announcement is a major setback for General Khalifa Haftar, whose Libyan National Army (LNA) still controls most of the country’s territory. His rival government is based in Tobruk.

“Haftar’s plan to take over Tripoli has been smashed,” Colonel Salah al-Namroush of the Government of National Accord (GNA), the UN-recognised administration, declared.

Libya has not been at peace since Nato armed forces overthrew Muammar Gadaffi in 2010, but in recent years the struggle between the GNA and Gen Haftar has become a proxy war between international forces, with Italy, Qatar and Turkey supporting the GNA, and France, Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Israel all accused of supporting the Tobruk government. 

Stockpiles of French weapons have been found in LNA hands and the United States accused Russia last month of deploying aircraft to assist Gen Haftar, a charge previously levelled at France by GNA authorities and in both cases denied.

Turkey has made no secret of its deployment of jihadist militias, many relocated from the Syrian conflict, to fight alongside the GNA.

The restoration of full GNA control over Tripoli after a siege of more than a year suggests Turkey’s intervention has altered the balance of forces.

The United Nations said on Monday that both sides had agreed to resume ceasefire talks.