BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) — Eastern Libya's strongman has offered the strongest indication yet that he intends to run for president if elections are held next year, saying he would only answer to "the will of the Libyan people."

Khalifa Hifter, a Moammar Gadhafi-era general, spoke Sunday in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi as a two-year mandate of a U.N.-backed government in the capital Tripoli expired.

"We declare very clearly that we will fully obey the orders of the free Libyan people and no one else," said Hifter, who is linked to an administration based in the east and is mostly opposed to the one in Tripoli.

In response, the head of the Tripoli government, Agila Saleh, called for parliamentary and presidential elections in 2018.