How the "new Gaddafi" deceived the Western powers

Western diplomats sat for three hours last month with Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar in his eastern stronghold trying to talk him out of launching an offensive against the internationally recognized government in Tripoli.

They urged him not to push the country into civil war and told him he could become a successful civilian leader if he committed himself to a political solution, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the meeting near Benghazi.

However, the military stalwart, who critics describe as the new Muammar Gaddafi, did not refer to them much, the sources told Reuters on the condition that the ambassadors not be identified. He stated that he was ready to negotiate with the prime minister, but that he could invade the capital if no power-sharing agreement was reached.

Two weeks later, on April 4, he sent troops from his self-proclaimed Libyan National Army (LNA) toward Tripoli, while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was in the city in preparation for this month's national reconciliation conference, which, as Guterres' associates thought, Haftar supports.

For world powers, including France, Italy and Britain, the general's military campaign, the largest in Libya since the 2011 uprising that ousted Gaddafi, represents a major step backwards.

They have been trying for years to woo Haftar, 75, for a political solution that would stabilize the major oil and gas producer after nearly a decade of conflict that has served as a breeding ground for Islamist extremists.

Even the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, which support Haftar and see him as a bulwark against Islamists in northern Africa, appear to be surprised by his rapid advance. A French diplomatic source said Paris, which is also helping the general, was not forewarned of the offensive.

Diplomats' calls for military restraint at a meeting last month echoed those made by other Western and UN envoys who traveled to Haftar's base near Benghazi in recent weeks, according to four separate diplomatic sources.

How far the situation in Libya and Haftar are beyond their control is shown by the fact that UN and Western envoys, who are in daily contact with his camp regarding the conference, had no idea that he was going to launch an offensive, diplomatic sources said.

Some even thought the general was bluffing.

Some diplomats who have met with Haftar many times and lobbied their governments to ignore his hard-line comments, such as that Libya was ready for democracy, were dismayed when it became clear that he was determined to take the city by force.

"I wasted almost two years on Haftar," said one who meets regularly with Haftar. "If the peace conference does not take place, it was worth nothing".

Haftar, for his part, has been persistent in speeches and announcements about his commitment to military force in his declared mission to restore order and peace in the North African nation, and has dropped hints that he will eventually lead the country.

When he first announced his intentions in February 2014, he stood next to a map of Libya, sullen, gray-haired, in an immaculate uniform, and promised to stage a coup.

Western powers left Libya after the Tripoli conflict in 2014, closing embassies and suspending NATO training programs, only to return in 2016.

The period of their absence has opened the door to Arab countries such as Egypt and the UAE, which have provided training and military aid, according to reports by UN experts overseeing an arms embargo imposed on Libya in 2011, and according to diplomats.

Haftar's forces received aircraft as well as military vehicles from the UAE, which also built an airbase in Al Hadim, allowing the LNA to gain air supremacy by 2016, according to a June 2017 UN report.

However, Haftar has struggled on the ground to make progress in the initial campaign launched in May 2014 against Islamist militants in Benghazi, which he dubbed "Operation Dignity". Its heavy weapons and aviation leveled residential buildings, but failed to remove foreign jihadists barricaded in houses with explosive devices.

At that point, France, which has oil assets in eastern Libya and is politically close to the UAE and Egypt, offered to help, according to Libyan and French sources.

In late 2015, Paris sent military advisers and special forces trained in urban warfare to a base near Benghazi. Reuters reports that French intervention helped them turn the tide and allowed him to declare victory in Benghazi in 2017.

Arab countries have for years recognized Haftar as Libya's official military commander, but France helped him gain additional international legitimacy as his campaign progressed. In 2017, French President Emmanuel Macron hosted Haftar and UN-backed Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj on the outskirts of Paris in an attempt to persuade them to reach an agreement, which immediately boosted the general's diplomatic status.

Macron and French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drianwied Haftar, as well as Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, as protection from Islamist militants in North Africa, according to French officials.

Le Drian has been to Libya three times in two years, and during his last visit, on March 20, he met with Seraj in Tripoli, and then traveled east to see Haftar in an attempt to broker a truce.

According to one diplomatic source, when Haftar asked him why he had been gone for so long, Le Drian replied, "We were waiting for your victories."

That source explained that the Frenchman was referring to the general's campaign to conquer the south of the country earlier this year. After Haftar's advance on Tripoli, Egypt's Sisi stressed the need for urgent international action to prevent the situation from worsening, without naming the LNA offensive. The governments of France, Italy, the UAE, Britain and the US said in a joint statement that they are deeply concerned about the conflict.

Le Drian told lawmakers on Tuesday that France feared a more serious conflict, adding that Haftar and Serraj must agree to a truce before continuing dialogue.

Searaj's weak government, backed by the US and militias in western Libya, has governed Tripoli since 2016 under a UN-brokered deal that Haftar is boycotting.

Haftar is reportedly supported by Russia, and the LNA controls most of the oil fields in eastern Libya.

The battle for the capital continues to rage and nothing is certain. Meanwhile, his lightning action united opponents in western Libya, who had not spoken for a long time, but now joined forces.

"Although none of Haftar's foreign sponsors are happy with the dramatic deterioration, they have no choice but to continue to support him," Harchaoui said. "Their stake for almost half a decade was mainly concentrated on one key figure. It cannot be deviated from overnight".

He was saved by the CIA

Haftar was one of the officers who helped Gaddafi seize power in 1969, but they fell apart during Libya's war with Chad in the 1980s. Haftar was captured by the Chadians and had to be rescued by the CIA since it was working from Chad to overthrow Gaddafi.

He lived in the American state of Virginia for about 20 years before returning home in 2011 and joining other rebels in the uprising that overthrew Gaddafi.

After three years, Haftar launched a campaign in Benghazi.

At the time, it had gathered only about 200 soldiers and 13 helicopters under the flag of the LNA, said Jalel Harchaoui of the Klingendal Institute for International Relations in The Hague.

However, Haftar quickly attracted other soldiers such as the elite Saika (Lightning) unit, as well as tribesmen.

Reuters writes that there is no reliable data on the current size of the LNA, although analysts say there are several thousand of them. Saika alone has 3.500 members, and Haftar's sons also have well-equipped units.

Haftar's forces are more numerous than the opponents scattered in the western cities, but in addition to the core of Gaddafi's former soldiers, he has received less trained tribesmen and Salafist fighters and foreign mercenaries into his ranks, analysts say.

After Benghazi, Haftar gradually conquered all of eastern Libya, before turning his attention to the south. However, according to the assessment of the British agency, the offensive on Tripoli is his game with the highest stake so far. He moved the bulk of his forces to the west and left his eastern base exposed, making it almost impossible for himself to retreat without losing his reputation among friends and foes alike.