Former Libyan Ambassador to the UAE to run for Libya presidency

Former Libyan Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Aref Al-Nayed, has announced his intentions to run for the country’s presidency, slated for later this year.

In an interview with Egyptian newspaper Youm7 in Dubai, Al-Nayed said he is preparing an election campaign in cooperation with the teamwork of young people to get Libya out of its crisis.

“Elections are the only way out of the Libyan crisis,” he thinks.

Nayed elaborated on his plans to win the elections, saying he has an integrated vision called “Reviving Libya” that includes political, economic, service, military and security reforms.

He disclosed that the vision was developed by Libyan young people with the assistance of foreign expertise and advice.

He also boasted of his previous “achievements” saying he and his team have been working for the Libyan telecom sector since 1998 and they have managed to accomplish 50 projects.

“During my tenure as ambassador, I coordinated several humanitarian relief campaigns during periods of conflict and disaster. I also organized humanitarian action groups with the Libyan community in the UAE.” He said.

The UAE puppet denied his links to any political party in Libya, accusing the Muslim Brotherhood, his political rivals, of being associated with terrorism and assassinations, and that they are influenced by the doctrine of the Kharijites and the fascist Italian ideology.

He praised the role of warlord Khalifa Haftar and his self-styled army in “defeating terrorism”, revealing that he had supported that army “in the most difficult situations”, but he refused to give further details about the support in order to “preserve the Libyan national security.”

Meanwhile, a member of the Association of Victims of UAE Airstrikes in Libya, Ibrahim bin Rajab, has disclosed that they will sue Aref Nayed and block his candidacy for president.

In a press statement on Monday, he said that they have files that prove the involvement of Nayed and the House of Representatives in bringing the UAE and Egypt warplanes to bomb sites in Libya that led to the killing and wounding of dozens, noting that they are working to send the files to the International Court of Justice.

Aref Nayed served as the Libyan ambassador to the UAE from June 2011 to October 2016. He is backed and funded by the UAE, the country which is meddling in Libya’s internal affairs.

He has established his own TV “Libya Channel”, which is based in Jordan, with millions of dollars are being spent by the UAE every year to run the channel, according to the opposition website UAE 71.