FRANCE 24 English published this video item, entitled “Libya’s Haftar, controversial military commander with eye on presidency • FRANCE 24 English” – below is their description.
Khalifa #Haftar, who on Tuesday announced his bid to become president of #Libya, has spent much of the past decade leading #military campaigns but now seeks power through the ballot box after a humiliating defeat at the gates of #Tripoli. The field marshal, whose white hair contrasts with a dark moustache and eyebrows, has been a controversial but key player in Libya since it spiralled into chaos with the revolt against longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011. FRANCE 24’s International Affairs Commentator Douglas Herbert tells us more.
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FRANCE 24 English YouTube Channel
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In This Story: Libya
Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa, bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad to the south, Niger to the southwest, Algeria to the west, and Tunisia to the northwest.
The sovereign state is made of three historical regions: Tripolitania, Fezzan and Cyrenaica. The largest city and capital, Tripoli, is located in western Libya and contains over three million of Libya’s seven million people. The second-largest city is Benghazi, which is located in eastern Libya.
Libya became independent as a kingdom in 1951. A military coup in 1969 overthrew King Idris I. Parts of Libya are currently split between rival Tobruk and Tripoli-based governments, as well as various tribal and Islamist militias.
Libya is a member of the United Nations (since 1955), the Non-Aligned Movement, the Arab League, the OIC and OPEC. The country’s official religion is Islam, with 96.6% of the Libyan population being Sunni Muslims.
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