A court in Libya’s western city of Zawiya on Wednesday ordered the electoral commission to drop Gen Khalifa Haftar’s name from the list of presidential candidates.
Africa Today News, New York gathered that Gen Haftar, who led a rebellion against the National Unity Government between 2019 and 2020, caused controversy when he filed his paperwork to run for president.
Military prosecutors had advised the electoral commission to discontinue processing his application until he was questioned over accusations of human rights abuses.
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They also advised against the candidacy of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of the country’s former leader, Muammar Gaddafi.
Africa Today News, New York reports that last week, a court in Misrata sentenced Gen Haftar to death in absentia for bombing a military college in the city in 2019.
He has also been declared wanted in the US.
The military commander, whose forces control the east of the country and parts of the south, has the right to appeal against the Zawiya court’s decision but he is unlikely to attend the hearing as he is under an arrest warrant.
He has not commented on the various allegations against him.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK