WORLD NEWS APRIL 27, 2020 / 3:42 PM / UPDATED 18 HOURS AGO

Libya's eastern leader Haftar says army to take formal control

TUNIS (Reuters) - Libya’s eastern-based military leader Khalifa Haftar said on Monday his Libyan National Army (LNA) was accepting a “popular mandate” to rule the country, apparently brushing aside the civilian authorities that nominally govern eastern Libya.

Haftar, who launched a war a year ago to grab the capital Tripoli and other parts of northwest Libya, was already widely understood to control the parallel administration that rules in the east.

He did not spell out in his brief televised speech on Monday what form the new power structure would take and the wider political ramifications were not immediately clear.

Libya has been split since 2014 between areas controlled by the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli and the northwest, and territory held by eastern-based forces in Benghazi.

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WORLD NEWS APRIL 28, 2020 / 9:20 AM / UPDATED 41 MINUTES AGO

Russia disapproves of Haftar's power grab in Libya: Ifax cites foreign minister

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Moscow did not approve of Libya’s eastern-based military leader Khalifa Haftar’s move to seize control of the country, the Interfax news agency reported.

“I would not talk here about any leverage that Russia has,” Lavrov said. “We have contact with all the actors in the Libyan conflict, without exception.”

The Kremlin earlier on Tuesday said Russia remained committed to seeking a resolution to the conflict through politics and diplomacy.

Reporting by Polina Devitt; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Alex Richardson