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World News See other World News Articles Title: Saudi Arabia Bankrolling Haftar's Bid To Seize All Of Libya Revolutions can’t abide by stale old ideas like rule of law. Saudi Arabia Bankrolling Haftar's Bid To Seize All Of Libya by Tyler Durden Sat, 04/13/2019 - 07:35 “Haftar would not be a player today without the foreign support he has received,” a Libyan affairs expert told The Wall Street Journal in a new lengthy profile of the Benghazi-based General Khalifa Haftar, whose Libyan National Army (LNA) is advancing this week on Tripoli. As Haftar consolidated power over much of the country's war ravaged east, also making huge gains in the past year over the south, he's all along enjoyed the political backing of an unlikely assortment of powerful countries that include the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, France, and Russia. But the new WSJ report reveals his latest major external backer with endlessly deep pockets: Days before Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive to seize the capital and attempt to unite the divided country under his rule, Saudi Arabia promised tens of millions of dollars to help pay for the operation, according to senior advisers to the Saudi government. On March 27, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman hosted Libyan General Khalifa Haftar for talks at the al-Yamamah Royal Palace in Riyadh. via Saudi Press Agency Citing senior Saudi officials, the report reveals further the offer came during a recent visit to Saudi Arabia, as part of a broader trip which took Haftar to European capitals where the perception was that the renegade general now militarily challenging the UN-backed Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) was crucial to negotiating a lasting power sharing settlement between the eastern and western halves of the country. The diplomatic meetings bolstered his status and resolve to take the whole country, even as lately the US and EU have vehemently called on him to halt the LNA's military advance, which lately included airstrikes on suburbs of Tripoli. But apparently, the Saudis and possibly other backers are actually funding the assault on Tripoli, and further securing weaponry. The WSJ continues: Mr. Haftar accepted the recent Saudi offer of funds, according to the senior Saudi advisers, who said the money was intended for buying the loyalty of tribal leaders, recruiting and paying fighters, and other military purposes. “We were quite generous,” one of the advisers said. The report also notes that with his so far rapid advance west, more previously reluctant European officials are jumping on the Haftar train. As we noted previously, "Libya's incoming strongman will send the oil out to Europe, and keep its migrants in." But the Saudis only very recently emerged as apparently Haftar's prime backer, putting into motion the bloody battle for Tripoli that has now been on for a week. The WSJ reports that Haftar's March trip to Riyadh included a key meeting with crown prince MbS: The following day, on March 27, he was welcomed in Riyadh by Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. Undisclosed by the Saudi government at the time, he also met Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, along with Saudi Arabia’s interior minister and intelligence chief, according to two Saudi officials. And now the question remains, if the Saudis are now so aggressively backing him, will Washington be next to officially jump on the bandwagon? Poster Comment: I remember under Reagan, U.S. A-4's sunk 3 Libyan Navy vessels in the Gulf of Sidra. The joke on the late night talk shows went, "The Libyans have a new Navy with glass bottom boats so they can look at the old Navy." ROTFLOL Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
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