Libyan warlord in Minsk to discuss military ties

February 18, Pozirk. Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Field Marshal Khalifa Belqasim Omar Haftar arrived in Minsk yesterday to discuss “issues of mutual interest,” the LNA said on Facebook.

Haftar reportedly came to Minsk with his son Saddam Haftar and sons-in-law Bassem al-Bouayshi and Ayoub al-Ferjani.

Ivan Tertel, chief of the Belarusian Committee for State Security (KGB), met the Libyan delegation at the airport, Belarusian state-run media reported.

Libya’s political crisis has been ongoing since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

Since March 2022, two different governments control the country, the Tripoli-based and internationally recognized led by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh and Benghasi-based government led by Osama Hamada. The LNA, led by 81-year-old Haftar, is loyal to the Libyan House of Representatives in Tobruk.

In 2019, Haftar launched a failed attack on Tripoli. Reports suggested that his troops were aided by Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group.

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