Luxury Hotel in Libyan Capital Hit by Rockets

The Interior Ministry of Libya’s internationally recognized government released photos of damage at Tripoli’s high-end Rixos Hotel that it blamed on rockets launched early Friday by troops loyal to Khalifa Haftar. Haftar is a renegade general based in eastern Libya who is trying to capture the capital and other parts of the country controlled by the Government of National Accord led by Fayez Mustafa al-Sarraj. Both Haftar and Sarraj were among those who brought to an end the reign of dictator Muamar Gaddafi in 2011, but they had a falling out when it came time to decide who would control a post-Gaddafi Libya. Haftar and troops loyal to him have used the eastern city of Benghazi as their shadow capital, and in recent months they have swept southward to capture numerous oilfields before veering northwest toward Tripoli itself. Both Haftar and Sarraj rejected cease-fire terms offered this week by outside mediators.