Osama al-Juwaili أسامة الجويلي | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of Defense | |
| In office 22 November 2011 – 14 November 2012 | |
| Prime Minister | Abdurrahim El-Keib Ali Zeidan |
| Preceded by | Jalal al-Digheily |
| Succeeded by | Mohammad al-Bargathi[1] |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1961 (age 64–65) |
| Profession | Trainer Military Commander[2] |
Major GeneralOsama al-Juwaili (Arabic:أسامة الجويلي) is aLibyan military officer who served as Minister of Defence in the government ofAbdurrahim El-Keib, Libya's interim Prime Minister. Since the formation of theGovernment of National Accord (GNA) in 2015, al-Juwaili served it as a senior commander, since 2017 being the commander of the Western Military Zone. On 6 April 2019 he became the commander of the joint operations room, created by Prime MinisterFayez al-Sarraj to coordinate military operations since the start of the2019 Western Libya offensive.
He fought in theFirst Libyan Civil War against the government ofMuammar Gaddafi. Immediately prior to his appointment on 22 November 2011, Juwali'sZintan Brigade, a band ofanti-Gaddafi fighters based inZintan in Libya'sNafusa Mountains, located and capturedSaif al-Islam Gaddafi, one of the former Libyan leader's most prominent sons, in theLibyan Desert.[3] al-Juwaili is said to be aligned with the Tripoli Revolutionary Council (TRC) led byAbdullah Naker,[4] who warned in an interview 18 November that his men could overthrow the government even before it was appointed if it failed to meet their demands for representation.[5][6]
Studied "Electronic Support" and Graduated from the Tripoli Military Academy in 1982, he remained to be a trainer at the academy until 1987. He resigned from the army in 1992 with rank of captain. Juwali was then appointed as head of the Vocational Guidance center in Yifrin part of the Libyan Ministry of Workforce and Training.[citation needed] He defected to theanti-Gaddafi forces during the 2011 civil war, becoming the head of Zintan's military council. His uncle was reportedly a deputy governor of theCentral Bank of Libya under Gaddafi.[2]
In August 2022, Juwaili was involved inFathi Bashagha's failed attempt to take Tripoli and overthrow theUN-recognized government ofAbdul Hamid Dbeibeh.[7][8]
Juwaily met with Major General Isa Saif Al Mazrouie, Deputy Chief of Staff of theUAE Armed Forces inTripoli on 6 December 2011 and discussed areas of cooperation between the two countries and ways of enhancing them, especially in the military sector.[10]
Since January 2012 Juwaily is responsible for integrating therival militias into a fully functioning army and police force.[11]
But Bashagha faced stiff resistance from militias loyal to Dbeibah, leading to hourslong clashes that rocked the city until Bashagha withdrew and a day later set up his government headquarters in the coastal city ofSirte, half way between Libya's power centers in the east and the west.
The withdrawal emboldened Dbeibah, who promptly sacked Qaddur and another military official, Osama Juwaili, who heads the military intelligence agency. The dismissal of Qaddur was subsequently reversed by the presidential council — an apparent crack within Dbeibah's camp.
According to an official close to Dbeibah, the Tripoli-based prime minister is convinced Bashagha could not have entered the Libyan capital without "approval or coordination" with Juwaili, a powerful figure from the western city of Zintan, and also Qaddur.
Juwaili's forces, the official said, manned checkpoints and control areas nearGharyan, a town south of Tripoli, where Bashagha's convoy passed on its way to the capital. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence details.
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