Marco Rubio Meets Saddam Haftar in Washington To Bridge Libya’s Rival Administrations

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Saddam Haftar, deputy commander of eastern Libya's armed forces, in Washington, D.C., to discuss efforts to bridge Libya’s long-standing institutional divisions and advance political and security coordination.

“US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has met a top official from the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), which backs the government in eastern Libya and is competing for power with the internationally recognised authorities in the capital, Tripoli”

Al Jazeera

State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said Rubio and Deputy Commander Haftar discussed “ongoing Libyan-led efforts to unify the country’s military, economic, and political institutions,” and Rubio “expressed appreciation” for local leaders’ work to overcome fractures and move toward a comprehensive national settlement.

Al Jazeera

The meeting followed reports that the State Department expects to host representatives from both the eastern and western factions in Washington later this month, as Libya remains divided between two rival administrations led by Abdul Hamid Dbeibah in Tripoli and Osama Hammad in Benghazi.

Al Jazeera said the talks between Rubio and Saddam Haftar came amid Washington’s deepening involvement in attempting to resolve the political crisis in the North African country, with the U.S. statement saying the two “discussed ongoing Libyan-led efforts to unify the country’s military, economic, and political institutions.”

Cooperation between the Syrian government and Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) has intensified, with an undisclosed source of Syrian journalist Nadia Abid saying the Bashar al-Assad regime agreed to send several units of Russian-made MiG-29 fighter aircraft to its North African ally.

Analyst José Luis Mansilla (@Sahel_Intel) confirmed the information, and the transaction was described as part of a broader line of assistance established between Damascus and Tripoli at the beginning of March in the Syrian capital.

Al-Monitor

The same account says the two administrations signed a 46-clause agreement protocol for a joint effort against Turkey and its allied fighters, and it frames the Syrian Arab Army and the LNA as “essentially fighting the same enemy.”

It also says the LNA’s latest initiative could represent a major blow to the development of the Libyan conflict, and that the MiG-29s transferred by Syria would be integrated into a fleet that already includes Russian Su-22 fighters and MiG-21s.

In Libya, dissident General Khalifa Haftar is attempting a coup, and RFI says that one month before Libya's legislative elections he can boast of defections to his side as his “Battle of Dignity” mobilized chiefs of staff of the army's ground forces, the air force and the navy.

“Cooperation between the Syrian government and Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) has intensified”

Atalayar

RFI reports that since the attacks on Friday, May 16 and Sunday, May 18, aided by helicopters and combat aircraft against Islamist militias in Benghazi and then against the General National Congress (GNC, Parliament), there have already been about 80 dead and 150 wounded.

France 24 said Haftar’s LNA announced on Tuesday the retaking of two major oil sites in the northeast of the country—Ras Lanouf and Al-Sedra—after they had been seized in early March by rival armed Islamist groups, with spokesman Ahmad al-Mesmari reporting 10 dead and 18 wounded among LNA forces.

France 24 added that Libya's oil production stands at 700,000 barrels per day, more than double its level a year ago but still far from the 1.6 million the country produced before the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011, as the battle is described as “not over yet.”