In a remarkable article entitled "The UAE and Egypt are preparing to give up Haftar after losing the Al-Watiyah Air Force Base," "Mada Masr" newspaper reported, quoting Libyan and Egyptian officials, that Egypt and the UAE - two of the main supporters of the Libyan National Army led by retired general Khalifa Hifter - decided to abandon it after more A year after the failed military campaign to seize Tripoli.

A Libyan political source close to the besieged general told the newspaper on Tuesday that Egypt and the UAE had reached a conviction that Haftar was "on his way out".

An Egyptian official who spoke to the newspaper, on the condition of anonymity, echoed the Libyan political source’s account, saying, “The question today for the Egyptian-Emirati-French alliance that supported Haftar until this moment is about the next step in light of Haftar’s defeat.” "No one can bet on Haftar again," the source added.

Mada Masr - an independent digital newspaper - stated that the move comes at a time when Haftar is losing internal support as well by abandoning the powerful tribes and political allies in Libya.

The withdrawal of support from Haftar comes after the forces affiliated with the National Accord Government, backed by Turkish air strikes, took control of Al-Wattia Air Force Base on Monday without any significant resistance from Haftar's forces.

The newspaper added that the loss of al-Watiyah base was the worst setback for Haftar since he launched an attack on Tripoli in April 2019 with the support of France, the UAE, Egypt, Jordan and Russia.

She pointed out that the course of operations began to shift in favor of the Al-Wefaq government as a result of the support provided by Turkey since the beginning of the year, especially the drones that made the Al-Wefaq government dominate the field and directed a series of setbacks for Haftar's forces since the beginning of last April.

Egyptian official: The Russians are not at all pleased with some of the photos published by the National Accord Forces seizing Russian weapons

The setback was evident in the early hours of Tuesday morning, when a spokesman for the forces of Haftar Ahmed Al-Mismari held a press conference to announce the "relocation of the forces in some axes of Tripoli" in the front located to the south of the Libyan capital.

The newspaper pointed out that Al-Mismari tried not to link the decision to the loss of Al-Watiyah base, saying that Haftar issued an order of "repositioning" a few months ago, according to a report from the head of the western military area of ​​the Libyan National Army.

The newspaper reported that the Al-Wefaq government’s takeover of the base occurred suddenly on Monday morning, after an intense air campaign of Turkish drones for weeks.

A high-ranking military source in the National Accord government close to Osama al-Juwayli - who hails from the western city of Zintan and led the al-Wefaq forces’s assault on al-Watiyah the day before yesterday - told the newspaper on that day that the attack was carried out in coordination with the Zintan forces allied to Haftar inside the air base.

Al-Juwaili persuaded two major groups inside the base to withdraw before the National Accord Forces advanced, according to the source, who indicated the air superiority of the National Accord government in carrying out more than 60 air strikes last month as a major factor in the depletion of forces inside the base.

"(The split in al-Watiyah) shows a loss of confidence between the armed groups loyal to Haftar and his ability to change the situation on the ground," the source said.

After the Al-Wefaq forces took over the air base, they posted pictures on the Internet of what they claimed were Russian Pansir air defense systems mounted on trucks, as well as references on how to use that equipment.

The Egyptian official commented that "the Russians are not at all pleased with some of the photos that have been published by the National Accord Forces as they seize Russian weapons."

The newspaper added that the National Accord forces continued their progress yesterday, extracting the towns of Josh, Badr, and Tiji - all in the outskirts of the Nafusa Mountains - from the grip of the Libyan National Army, and the National Accord Forces are still engaged in clashes to try to seize a gang city, an important city along the national army supply line Al-Libi and the strategic location of Haftar's forces located near Gharyan, the site of Haftar's former main operations center.

However - as the newspaper says - developments on the front lines may not be the biggest problem for Haftar anymore, as the Libyan political source close to Haftar says that the UAE - after consulting with Egypt - has called on Britain to intervene in support of the political road map presented by the Chancellor and Speaker of Parliament In Tobruk, Aqeelah Saleh Issa, who was a strong supporter of Haftar in the past but is now competing for a greater share in the political scene and is moving against the general.

She pointed out that Saleh's roadmap is based on restructuring and electing a new presidential council that would form a new government, but the Libyan political source says it is unclear whether the head of the National Accord government, Fayez al-Sarraj, will agree to speak to Haftar now.

The newspaper hinted that the situation of Haftar’s military mixture of former Libyan armed forces officers, foreign mercenaries, local militias and Islamists will be further complicated if foreign supporters do not find a suitable alternative for him.