Mediapart: Haftar is France's troublesome friend and warlike one

The French mediapart, in a lengthy analytical article, asked about the fate awaiting the rebel "Field Marshal" Khalifa Haftar, who many foreign powers have bet on, since his attack on the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and Turkey's entry into the conflict, failed, and how France failed in its double game in Lybia.

The article - edited by writers Renee Bachman and Rashid Al-Azouzi - reviewed some stages of the life of retired Major General Khalifa Haftar, where he was the companion of the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in the study, and he was a member of the Free Officers Movement that overthrew King Idris in September 1969, and was appointed head of the Libyan unit In the Arab armies in the 1973 war with Israel.

The article began from the moment Haftar was promoted to the rank of Field Marshal in 2016 by the Tobruk Parliament, which could not return a request to him, although he was never famous except for his utter failure in the battle of "Umm al-Dum" (northern Chad), where two thousand of his soldiers were killed and captured after Failed plan.

This end was a great insult to Gaddafi, especially as Haftar acquiesced to the proposals of the CIA and changed his allegiance, to put himself in the service of his former enemies, criticizing Gaddafi as a tyrant, to establish in a camp in Chad - with the help of the United States - a small force in the name of the National Salvation Front, which was then transferred Among several African countries under the protection of the Americans, before settling in Washington.

Opportunity to revolution

The article pointed out that Haftar's role models were not among the top generals such as Montgomery, Rommel, MacArthur and Zhukov, but rather the Egyptian dictator Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, with whom he shares a mad hatred for the Muslim Brotherhood.

Despite the coordination of Haftar with some Libyan oppositionists in exile, he failed in the coup he dreamed of in 1993, until the opportunity for the Libyan revolution in 2011 to return to Libya and try to implement his project, claiming before the press that he was "summoned" by the people, "and that he returned to help In fighting the old system. "

Haftar's military role was modest during the revolution, according to the authors. Therefore, he faced rejection from the Islamic groups that considered him "the man of the Americans" when he wanted to take over the chief of staff of the Revolutionary Army, so he stayed upset in his home before returning to the United States at the beginning of the country's chaos.

In 2014, Haftar returned to Cyrenaica, and decided to create his own army, whose nucleus was the former Gaddafi army's officers and soldiers, adding to it the tribal militia group and even the armed Salafist groups, to name this combination the Libyan National Army, and he would become its leader in March 2015. Announcing a stage of the Libyan division.

Although, in theory, Haftar's army is the military wing of the Tobruk Parliament, the parliamentary assembly that competes with the General National Congress in Tripoli, according to the authors; The opposite is true, as it became clear that the Tobruk Parliament plays the role of the political instrument of the real power that Haftar's army maintains.

The two authors pointed out that the goal of the retired general is clear, which is to ultimately control all of Libya, in light of the "change by force" announced in his book published in 1995, entitled "Change in Libya: A Political Vision for Change by Force."

The development of matters showed - according to the authors - that Haftar's military bets are adventurous, his sometimes strange political decisions, and the change of his diplomatic options and his divergent international alliances. It all stems from its ability to enable him to fully control the country and to succeed Gaddafi.

This explains his acceptance and then rejection of the Skhirat Agreement concluded in 2015 under the auspices of the United Nations, which also explains his numerous and fruitless meetings with Fayez al-Sarraj, the head of the Government of National Accord resulting from the Skhirat Agreement, which is the only Libyan authority recognized by the United Nations and the international community, as he explains. His changing relations with Moscow, Paris and Washington, and his ties to a part of the Arab world.

Because he opposed the Sarraj government, Haftar benefited from the support of the UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and also received secret aid from France, which officially recognizes the government in Tripoli.

France's responsibilities

The former director of French intelligence, Bernard Bajolie, told Mediapart two years ago that the French goals at the time of his appointment were to fight terrorism, and therefore "we established ties with Haftar, who was an important player, as well as with Fayez al-Sarraj." However, Paris today believes that "the Libyan crisis can only be resolved." To be a politician. "

Bajoley says that he did not encourage the attack launched by Haftar on Tripoli, which ended with Turkey entering the scene of events alongside the Government of National Accord in Libya, noting that the record of France's involvement in the Libyan chaos is modest to say the least.

In this context, the article states that France has refrained from criticizing Haftar's brutal and criminal methods, and has not condemned the ongoing violations of the arms embargo in favor of Haftar by the UAE, its distinguished partner in the Gulf, with the result that France is now accused of double play and double talk, which weakens its international position. Especially its diplomatic campaign against Turkey.

Although French President Emmanuel Macron boasted of his success in bringing together the main actors in the Libyan conflict, and standing with a smile on the picture between Haftar and Al-Sarraj, the bet he put forward to hold elections within 7 months was not realistic and never materialized.

Libyan expert Jalil Harchaoui said two years later, at the time of the Berlin conference: France is a good example of the unconditional support for Haftar. Political expert Hosni Abidi added, "France, like Italy, adapts its support according to the circumstances, but hopes to achieve a military victory for Haftar."

The two writers wondered: Has the position of France, which bears great responsibilities in the Libyan quagmire, has changed since the contributions of French President Nicolas Sarkozy in what happened in 2011, noting that Paris is trying by all means to restore contact with the Tripoli authorities.

Duality of Washington

The same charge of double gambling and the double scandal can be directed at the United States, because it contributed with London and Rome in forming the Government of National Accord and giving credibility to the authority of Tripoli, and distancing itself from Haftar to avoid being drawn into a war between the factions without a vital interest, before the secret return to Libya where the activity stirs Russian concern.

The authors pointed out that the CIA, which never severed its ties with its former stepson Haftar, has been in Benghazi since 2018, as well as US special forces that have a base in the region, and that US President Donald Trump spoke with Haftar at the beginning of his attack on Tripoli about Their shared vision for a democratic future in Libya.

In a deeply pragmatic behavior, Russia did not prevent Haftar from remaining 20 years under the auspices of the CIA, which was explained by Dennis Bouchard, a former ambassador and specialist in the Arab world, with the Russian desire to return to Libya, where it had important interests.

And Moscow sent - in addition to two thousand mercenaries of the "Wagner Group" - 500 Syrian fighters to Cyrenaica loyal to Assad and combat aircraft.