Libya tribal chief asks Arab states to act against Turkish aggression

A Libyan tribal leader said Tuesday that the Libyan National Army (LNA) and the Libyan people would fight tooth and nail to protect their country against what he described as the "invaders."

Mansour al-Manfi, a representative of Libyan tribes, called on Arab countries to defend Libya.

"This is a battle that will decide Libya's fate for many years to come," al-Manfi told the Egyptian TV channel, Sada al-Balad.

He added that Arab countries had to act to repel what he described as the "Turkish enemy."

The Libyan people and Libyan tribes, al-Manfi said, stand behind the Libyan House of Deputies.

He added that Egypt does its best to stand side by side with the Libyan people. He noted that Libyans backed Egypt during the October 1973 war against Israel.

Al-Manfi said the Ottomans had occupied Libya for many years in the past and gave it nothing but backwardness.

"The Ottomans then handed our country over to the Italians," al-Manfi said.

Al-Manfi's remarks came only hours after LNA Spokesman Ahmed al-Mesmari said his army had collected information about the presence of large numbers of troops affiliated to the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord around the northern Libyan city of Sirte and the central city of al-Jufra.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Libyan House of Deputies asked Egypt to militarily intervene in Libya to protect its own national security and repel the Turkish invasion of Libya.