TRIPOLI — Allegations that Saddam Haftar, son of eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar and deputy head of the Libyan National Army, oversaw a cell that launched drone attacks on fuel and power sites in western Libya have upended U.S.-backed unity talks, The Guardian reported Saturday.
Over more than five days in August, drones struck the Zawiya oil complex west of Tripoli, hitting a gasoline-storage tank that held about 4.5 million litres of fuel and causing a large fire and collapse, according to Libya’s National Oil Corporation. Blackouts in the west intensified political pressure on Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah’s Government of National Unity (GNU).
On September 5, three Libyans and one Spanish citizen were arrested in southern Tripoli over an alleged plot said to have included an attack on Tripoli airport. GNU sources told The Guardian the arrested Libyans were linked to the Tareq ben Ziyad brigade and were working for Saddam Haftar. “No formal decision has been made, but in light of what has been discovered it is impossible to work with Saddam,” the sources said.
Donald Trump’s Africa adviser, Massad Boulos, has promoted a merger plan casting Haftar as president and a Dbeibah-family figure as prime minister. The Guardian said the drone campaign was linked to anger over alleged stalling on that plan and southern tribal clashes. Libya has remained split between east and west since 2011.
Sources: The Guardian
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