Libya’s Haftar says he will lift oil blockade, with conditions

Eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar announced on Friday he would lift for one month his blockade of oil output and said he had agreed with the rival Tripoli government on “fair distribution” of energy revenue.

“We are ready to open oil fields, to secure the future of Libya, for one month,” Haftar said in a statement distributed by his spokesman after a brief televised broadcast in which he announced that it had “been decided” to resume oil production.

In Tripoli, the GNA’s deputy prime minister, Ahmed Maiteeg, issued a statement immediately after Haftar’s speech also saying it “had been decided” to resume oil production and adding this would involve a new committee to oversee revenue distribution.

The committee would coordinate between the two sides to prepare a budget and transfer funds to cover payments and deal with the public debt, he said.