Libya’s “Gaddafi 2.0” Eyes Military Takeover Of Tripoli, Could Rattle Global Oil Markets

Libya is coming apart again — though of course it was never put back together in the first place after NATO’s regime change war to topple Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 in the first place. Since then it’s been a jihadist wasteland of three, or at times up to four, competing governments vying for control of land and resources. 

And now, as Bloomberg reports this week “Libya’s most powerful warlord has his sights on the capital” of Tripoli and “even his international backers are nervous.” Who are Khalifa Haftar’s international backers? He was for a couple decades believed to be on the CIA’s payroll while living in suburban Virginia outside Washington, D.C. in exile during Gaddafi’s rule. He’s also financed by the UAE and quickly emerged as a main player collecting the spoils in the aftermath of the US-French-NATO bombing campaign in support of the rebels. 

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Libyan General Khalifa Haftar. Image source: Middle East Monitor

Based in Libya’s oil-rich east, Haftar’s militia has already captured much of the country’s oil resources, especially after a successful blitz to take much of the south this year.

And now he reportedly has his eye on the capital of Tripoli in the west — home to the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) and Libya’s state-run National Oil Corporation, which when combined with small subsidiaries under its direction accounts for some 70% of the country’s oil output

But has an increasingly powerful Haftar gone rogue, outside the bounds of his international political and financial backers? Or is he actually the external brokers’ “solution” to impose order after years of post-Gaddafi chaos? Are we witnessing the rise of Libya’s new strongman — a Gaddafi 2.0 who will be amendable to western and gulf interests? 

Bloomberg reports the growing alarm of his international backers:

Alarmed, international powers are clamoring to avert a military showdown that could rattle global oil markets and sow further chaos in a divided country already struggling to defeat Islamic State and stem the flow of migrants toward Europe.

The UAE has reportedly tried to intervene with Haftar, urging him to put on the brakes and negotiate a power sharing situation, but to no avail. 

Haftar’s forces, known as the Libyan National Army (LNA), have continued bulldozing their way across the country at lightning pace:

But Haftar has continued to indicate that an offensive on Tripoli is looming, according to three Western diplomats who declined to be named. Rumors his self-styled Libyan National Army is building up troops and weapons in the west are adding to the anxious mood. LNA spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari said as recently as February that elections could only take place once the whole country was secure.

“We should be in no doubt that everything Haftar has done until now has been to get to Tripoli, to be the man in Tripoli,” said Mohamed Eljarh, co-founder of Libya Outlook for Research and Consulting, a think-tank based in the east. He’s likely to continue planning for a takeover “whether peacefully or violently.”

Interestingly, Haftar has also enjoyed the political backing of an unlikely assortment of powerful countries that include Russia, France, and Egypt. This is due to his purported secular identity and political platform, and his willingness to fight the jihadists, including Libyan ISIS. 

As a “secular autocrat” with external backing and potentially “West-friendly”, he precisely fits the model of a nationalist type dictator uniting the various large feuding tribes in the mold of Gaddafi (the late Libyan 42-year ruler himself at various times enjoyed the backing of European powers). 

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Libyan oil fields, pipelines, refineries and storage, via Wiki Commons.

Bloomberg reports further his LNA already has immense leverage as a potential military and political showdown with Tripoli GNA officials looms:

Already in control of Libya’s main oil-exporting terminals, the LNA has secured its biggest oil field since beginning its southern campaign in January. That puts Haftar in control of more than 1 million barrels of production a day, giving him crucial leverage over the OPEC member’s key source of income as well as command of its most powerful fighting force.

Post-Gaddafi Libya has been largely forgotten about in the media after its “liberation” by NATO and Islamist militants, and since 2011 has existed in varying degrees of anarchy and chaos. Libya has remained split between rival parliaments and governments in the east and west, with militias and tribes lining up behind each, resulting in fierce periodic clashes. 

The most significant of these warring militias nationwide has long been Haftar’s LNA, which has for the past couple years controlled much of eastern Libya and emerged as the chief rival to the UN-backed GNA in the western half of the country. 

Haftar has since 2017 been reported to be planning a move on Libya’s vital “oil crescent region” while bolstering his forces with Chadian mercenaries, according to prior local reports. Now largely successful in this endeavor, control of the capital would constitute the endgame allowing him to solidify rule over all portions of the country. 

Prior the 2011 Libyan war and NATO military intervention which ultimately led to the field execution of Muammar Gaddafi, the country produced about 1.6 million bpd, but years of turmoil and political instability in the aftermath have slashed that to 550,000 barrels per day as of 2018 output numbers. 

Eeat Libyan force stops plane in campaign for south

February 10, 2019

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – A jet from Khalifa Haftar’s east Libyan military forces intercepted a civilian plane on Sunday as part of its push to control the oil-rich south of the riven nation, the faction said.

Libya has been in turmoil since the NATO-backed toppling of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, with parallel administrations and armed groups carving the nation into swathes of control.

Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) began an offensive in the south last month to fight militants and take control of oil installations, and this week banned flights without its permission.

In a statement, the LNA said it scrambled a jet after a plane took off from the El Feel oilfield without permission, and forced it to land near Sabha, the largest town in south Libya.

It was allowed to continue to Tripoli, seat of the internationally-recognised government, after inspection.

The Tripoli government protested against the interception, saying the Libyan Airlines plane was carrying oil workers.

The LNA, which is allied to a parallel government in the eastern city of Benghazi, wants to secure the El Sharara oilfield, Libya’s largest, and occupied a pumping station 20km (12 miles) away on Wednesday, according to a field engineer.

The Tripoli government, striving to reassert its former control of El Sharara, has sent troops there, a source from the administration said.

El Sharara has been shut since December when local tribesmen and state guards seized it.

(reporting by Ayman Werfali and Ahmed Elumami; writing by Maher Chmaytelli and Ulf Laessing; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle and Andrew Cawthorne)

Libya militia ‘terrorises’ pro-Gaddafi town of Tawargha

(BBC)    Militias from the Libyan city of Misrata are “terrorising” displaced residents of the town of Tawargha over their alleged loyalty to Muammar Gaddafi, says a rights group.

The entire town, once home to 30,000 people, has been abandoned, said US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Parts have been ransacked and burnt and residents told not to return, it said.

The ruling NTC said it has ordered its forces not to loot and that an inquiry would be held in case of wrongdoing.

“We are in complete harmony. If there has been anything outside the law, there will be an investigation,” said Deputy Defence Minister Fawzi Abu Katif.

HRW said it had reports of militiamen shooting unarmed Tawarghans and of arbitrary arrests and beatings, some of them leading to deaths, HRW said.

The militias are accusing the Gaddafi loyalists in Tawargha of committing atrocities, such as murder and rape, alongside Gaddafi forces in Misrata.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15517894

Gaddafi to be buried in secret desert grave: NTC

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Gaddafi to be buried in secret desert grave: NTC 24 Oct 2011 Ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi will be buried on Tuesday in a secret desert grave, a National Transitional Council official said, ending a wrangle over his rotting corpse that led many to fear for Libya’s governability. With their Western allies uneasy that Gaddafi was battered and shot after his capture on Thursday, rebels US-backed barbarians had put the body on show in a cold store while they argued over what to do with it, until its decay forced them on Monday to close the doors.

Citizens for Legitimate Government

Gaddafi dies of wounds after capture

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Gaddafi dies of wounds after capture 20 Oct 2011 Deposed Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi has died of injuries he sustained during his capture by the National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters [aka US backed mercenaries, fighting for ExxonMobil and BP] in the northern city of Sirte. “He was also hit in his head. There was a lot of firing against his group and he died,” Reuters quoted an unidentified senior NTC military official as saying on Thursday. There was no independent confirmation of his remarks.

Citizens for Legitimate Government

Civilians accuse NATO of massacre in Sirte raids

(THE AUSTRALIAN)   The civilians pouring out of the besieged city of Sirte accused NATO of genocide yesterday as rebel forces called in reinforcements and prepared for a fresh assault on Muammar Gaddafi’s home town.

Long lines of civilian vehicles were leaving after a night of NATO air attacks on the town. Rebel forces fighting for the National Transitional Council added artillery and mortar fire.

The people leaving the town, many looking scared, said conditions inside Sirte were disastrous. They made claims which, if verified, are a challenge for NATO – which operates under a UN mandate to protect civilians – saying the NATO bombing raids hit homes, schools and hospitals.

“It was worse than awful,” said Riab Safran, 28, as his car was searched by rebel fighters outside Sirte. His family had slept on the beach because the houses were being bombed, he said. “They hit all kinds of buildings – schools, hospitals,” he said.

He could not distinguish between the NATO bombs and the rebels shells, he said, but believed it was a NATO bomb that destroyed his home on Saturday.

NATO said its warplanes bombed a number of military targets, including a rocket launcher, artillery and ammunition stores.

Some of those interviewed said the Gaddafi forces were making people stay in the city. Others said residents were frightened of the rebel fighters, who were reported to be abducting women from cars trying to leave Sirte. NTC fighters denied the charges.

Residents said power and water had run out and petrol was 88 Libyan dinars ($ 72) a litre. The water shortage has produced an epidemic of diseases, according to medical staff at a clinic in the town of Harawa, 40km east of Sirte.

But the Gaddafi forces had supplies of ammunition, pasta, oil, flour and food, residents said. They used an open radio channel to taunt the rebels, insisting the city would never be taken.

Read full article on The Australian

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