TRIPOLI, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Libya's eastern-based army spokesman Ahmad Mismari on Sunday denied reports that General Khalifa Haftar requested setting up a Russian military base in eastern Libya, the Libyan News Agency reported.

Mismari denied a statement made by the head of Russian contact group on Libya, Lev Dengov, published by an Egyptian newspaper regarding Haftar's request to set up a military base in eastern Libya. The spokesman confirmed that there is a fallacy in the news.

The Egyptian newspaper, Youm 7, on Sunday published an interview with Dengov, during which he said that Haftar has requested establishing a Russian military base in the east of the country.

Haftar has close ties with the Russian authorities and has made a number of official visits over the past few years to discuss Moscow's support for the Libyan army in the war on terrorism.