Libya under Russian and Turkish occupation, says Al-Koni

Presidential Council member Musa al-Koni has described Libya as “effectively an occupied country” due to the presence of Turkish and Russian forces on Libyan soil. The statement was made at the annual National Council on US-Libya Relations conference in Washington, which was attended by a Libyan Express correspondent.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Al-Koni revealed that Russian forces controlling Brak Air Base have restricted Libyan officials’ movements, noting that “the Libyan president cannot fly over Brak Air Base” and that he personally was unable to fly over the facility when returning from Rwanda.

The senior official accused key political figures—Aguila Saleh, Khalifa Haftar, and Abdul Hamid Dabaiba—of deliberately obstructing elections through an “undeclared agreement” as each seeks the presidency for themselves.

To resolve the political impasse, al-Koni proposed a joint presidential formula with representatives from Libya’s three historical regions: Tripoli, Cyrenaica, and Fezzan.

Highlighting what he termed the “historical injustice” against Fezzan, al-Koni criticised the region’s lack of political representation and fair resource allocation, stating it survives on “alms”.

He questioned why Fezzan remains excluded from the political and administrative structure while calling for the region to receive its own legislative council and representative government.

Al-Koni warned of impending “drums of war” and urged national reunification “before the country slides into a total explosion”, describing Libya as currently divided into “two states, with two parliaments, two governments, and two chiefs of staff”.