Libya: Khalifa Haftar, his son Saddam and the gold smuggling

Eastern Libyan military leader Khalifa Haftar, January 2020 in Athens (illustration).

REUTERS / Costas Baltas

Text by: RFI Follow

3 min

Marshal Khalifa Haftar's private plane landed in Istanbul twice last July.

The Falcon 900 also landed during the same period in Abu Dhabi and then at the private Emirati airport of Al Batine, reserved for businessmen.

This private jet attracts the attention of “flight tracking” adepts who monitor flights in real time and trace their movements.

Usually this aircraft is used by Marshal Khalifa Haftar, but more and more frequently it is used by his relatives for trafficking and money laundering.

This episode in Turkey comes a few weeks after that of Venezuela where relatives of Haftar have exchanged dollars for gold bars.

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It is mostly the sons of the Marshal, Khaled, Saddam, Al Siddik and a handful of nearby officers who use the Falcon to carry out their business.

The goal is, according to several specialists, to " 

 " established by Khalifa Haftar in eastern Libya.

"Business 

What was Khalifa Haftar's private plane doing in Turkey when President Erdogan and Marshal seem to be the worst enemies?

Many in eastern Libya believe this Turkish connection of the Haftar family is part of " 

 " to raise cash.

Is it the sale of Libyan gold?

The hypothesis is widely shared in some circles in Benghazi.

Saddam Haftar is known to illegally sell scrap metal and oil to Turkey.

According to a report by the UN expert group, this traffic had earned him 1.5 billion Turkish pounds.

Khalifa Haftar's son had even met the Turkish intelligence chief before the May 2019 offensive launched to seize Tripoli.

Emirati banks

These disturbing connections of those close to Haftar are not limited to Turkey.

Libyan gold would also be sold through Saddam Haftar to the Emirates for weapons, mercenaries and dollars.

The ANL's banking deals go through Khaled and Saddam Haftar's accounts through Emirati banks.

Libya is the second largest reserve of gold in Africa.

The al-Owaynat mountain range, located on the border with Sudan and Egypt, forms a huge deposit.

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• Libya

• Khalifa Haftar

• United Arab Emirates

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