Libyan Gen. Haftar who has been battling Islamist militias in Libya for about five weeks has reportedly ordered all Turkish and Qatari citizens in eastern Libya (from the Egyptian border to Sirte in central Libya) to leave the country and given them 48 hours, beginning from yesterday evening, to do so.
Any Turkish and Qatari citizens found in this area after this time period ends will reportedly be arrested.
Gen. Haftar is reported to have claimed that Turkish and Qatari citizens in this area are involved in intelligence activities and that the Turkish and Qatari governments support terrorism in Libya.
The Turkish Consulate in Benghazi was closed on June 14th and Turkish citizens in eastern Libya were urged to leave by the Turkish Government.
(Reuters) - A Libyan renegade general has called on all Turks and Qataris to leave volatile eastern Libya, accusing the two countries of supporting "terrorism", his spokesman said on Sunday.
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Turkey and Qatar both have supported the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist movement which has been declared a "terrorist" organization by Egypt and Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia.
There has been speculation among analysts that Haftar has the support of neighbouring Egypt and of Gulf states such as the United Arab Emirates, which like the West are worried about Islamist militants exploiting the chaos in Libya.
Haftar had last week accused Qatar of supporting armed militias in Libya.
http://uk.reuters.com/...
Note: English media reports are using much softer language such as 'call on' and 'should' while Turkish language reports are using terms such as 'ordered' and 'have to'.
This is some background information:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
http://www.dailykos.com/...