Haftar stops fighting in Tripoli and Emirati officials secretly land in Khartoum to discuss sending mercenaries to Libya

Al-Jazeera learned from informed sources that Emirati officials arrived in Khartoum on Tuesday on a secret visit to discuss supporting the retired Libyan Major General Khalifa Haftar with more mercenary fighters, while Haftar forces announced yesterday evening Wednesday the suspension of all military operations unilaterally in the axes of the capital Tripoli.

According to Al-Jazeera sources, an Emirati plane bearing the number A6-BND, bearing the logo of the Manchester City English football team, landed in the military part of Khartoum Airport on Tuesday, with prominent Emirati officials on board, led by UAE National Security Adviser Tahnoon bin Zayed.

Another plane arriving from Aden airport bearing the number FXX2534 had anticipated the arrival of the UAE officials plane for about half an hour.

It is known that Khartoum airport is only intended to receive cargo aircraft after the stop of air traffic due to the Corona virus pandemic.

The sources confirmed that the Emirati officials have come to Khartoum to discuss the mechanism of providing support for Haftar, and to send Sudanese fighters to support his forces, following the advancement of the Al-Wefaq government forces in the past weeks with several strategic axes in western Libya.

The plane of the Emirati officials left Khartoum airport after about five hours heading to Abu Dhabi.

It is noteworthy that a private plane with the number GALX, which also carries a number of high-ranking Emirati officials, landed in Khartoum airport last Saturday, coming from Dubai Airport, and stayed about two hours, then left for the Republic of Chad.

Commenting on this issue, President of the Supreme Council of State in Libya, Khaled al-Mashri, said that the National Accord government organized its ranks further after signing the military agreement with Turkey months ago.

Al-Mashri added in an interview with Al-Jazeera that the Al-Wefaq government forces have the ability to attack, not just defend. He said, "We do not fear any mercenaries brought by Haftar, and we will return them to their countries in coffins."

Al-Mashri stressed that "Haftar's biggest problem now is with men, because there is a reluctance in the eastern region from his forces, and that is why the countries that support him are seeking to provide mercenaries to fight with him."

And he considered that the United Arab Emirates "took more than its size" by interfering in Libya and in the rest of the Arab Spring, adding that "Abu Dhabi has been wielding conspiracies against Libya since 2013 through a special operations room run by Muhammad Dahlan (former leader of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah) ".

On the other hand, Haftar forces announced yesterday evening the cessation of military operations unilaterally in all axes of Tripoli on the occasion of the blessed month of Ramadan.

"It was decided to stop all military operations unilaterally in the axes of Tripoli, in response to the invitation of friendly countries, while retaining the right to respond to any breach," he added, without giving any details.

Despite his announcement, on March 21, of the approval of a humanitarian truce, called by the United Nations to focus efforts on confronting the Corona virus pandemic, Haftar continued an attack that he began on April 4, 2019, to take control of Tripoli, the headquarters of the Al-Wefaq government.

While the Libyan government signed in Moscow a ceasefire agreement, which took effect on January 12, with a Turkish-Russian initiative, Haftar, who is militarily supported by regional and European countries, refused to sign and continued the fighting.

In the context, the Al-Wefaq government protested the flight of two French planes yesterday morning in the sky of the city of Misurata, 200 km east of the capital, Tripoli.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the National Accord Government confirmed in a press statement that it was "disturbed by the breach of the Libyan airspace by the French warplanes."

The statement quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Muhammad al-Qiblawi as saying that "a French (Rafale) war plane and a (fuel supply) plane" flew "inside the Libyan airspace, specifically over the sky of Misurata and the Buqrin area." He added that "the Foreign Ministry protested to its French counterpart, considering that this action violates Libyan sovereignty."

Al-Qeblawi indicated that "the French Foreign Ministry promised to communicate with the Ministry of Armies to find out the backgrounds of the matter and its causes, and to inform the Libyan side of the results upon their arrival."