Confidential UN report: the UAE has launched an air bridge to support Haftar with weapons

According to additional data from a secret United Nations report, the US Bloomberg Agency revealed that the UAE is involved in operating a secret air bridge to supply the forces of retired Major General Khalifa Haftar with weapons, in violation of the United Nations arms embargo on Libya.

Citing diplomatic sources familiar with the report, the agency added that the United Nations team of experts tasked with monitoring sanctions and arms embargoes on Libya is investigating about 37 flights operated by the UAE in January.

Bloomberg clarified that the confidential report submitted to the Security Council indicates that these trips were operated by a complex network of companies registered in the UAE, Kazakhstan and the British Virgin Islands, to conceal the delivery of military equipment to Haftar in Libya.

This came after it had revealed earlier that a team of Western mercenaries had been deployed to Libya in June to support Haftar’s forces, quoting diplomats who had seen the contents of the report of the Security Council’s sanctions committee’s experts in February.

The agency noted - quoting the report - that the Western mercenaries belong to the company "Lancaster 6 DMCC" and "Opus Capital Asset Limited (FZE)", both of which are registered in the free zones in the UAE.

Responses and demands
In the context of reactions to these developments, a member of the Presidential Council of the Libyan Accord Government, Mohamed Amari Zayed, called on the Presidential Council and his government to hold an emergency session of the Council of Ministers, to take a decision to cut off all relations with the UAE, which he described as the belligerent country.

He also demanded that the UAE be considered an aggressor, and that Libya was at war with it, he said.

Amari said that the UAE is involved in shedding Libyan blood, violating Libya's sovereignty, establishing a military base in it, penetrating its airspace, and adopting a military coup project.

He stated that the UAE provides political, financial and media support to topple the legitimate government.

He called on the Presidential Council and his government to demand that the UAE pay compensation for the damage it caused, calling for directing the Libyan military establishment to deal with the UAE as an enemy country in the Libyan combat doctrine.

Condemnation and aggression
In a context related to political developments, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar stressed that there are no human losses for Turkey in Libya.

Akar announced the presence of mercenaries from several countries in Libya to support Haftar, while denouncing the criticisms leveled at the Turkish presence in Libya.

On the other hand, the Turkish Minister of Defense appreciated the statements of the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that the political process in Libya should be carried out by the legitimate party recognized by the United Nations.

This comes at a time when Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşo أوlu considered Haftar and his supporters more aggressive by launching attacks targeting civilians from the Libyan people, likening this aggression to the Syrian regime's aggression against its people.

He added that Haftar and his forces are targeting civilians, including hospitals, considering that this is due to the start of losing control in the field.

He stressed that Turkey believes that the only solution in Libya is the political solution, for this purpose it seeks to achieve a ceasefire there.

Since April 4, 2019, Haftar forces, backed by the United Arab Emirates and several other countries, have launched a faltering attack to seize the capital, Tripoli (west), the seat of government.

Hifter continues to launch this attack, defying a resolution passed by the United Nations Security Council on February 12, calling for a ceasefire, ignoring the seriousness of the pandemic of the Corona virus emerging (Covid-19) that struck Libya and the rest of the world.