AFRICOM chief meets Khalifa Haftar in Libya

America’s top general in Africa met with Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar in Libya on Thursday as part of the US "robust" response to the recent floods that have devastated the country.

US Marine Corps General Michael Langley, commander of the US Africa Command (AFRICOM), met with the leader of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Haftar in Benghazi.

According to the US Embassy in Libya, the two discussed "the importance of forming a democratically elected national government, reunifying the Libyan military, and safeguarding Libyan sovereignty by removing foreign mercenaries".

They also discussed the ongoing local and international relief efforts. 

Langley had travelled to Libya on Wednesday and met with Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dabaiba and General Mohamed al-Haddad, Chief of the General Staff, Libyan Armed Forces (LAF), in Tripoli.

Libya is currently split between two rival governments, one recognised by the UN based in Tripoli and the other based in the country’s east, with Haftar and his LNA de facto ruling much of the areas of its jurisdiction. Derna, the city which was hit by the catastrophic flooding, lies under the control of Haftar.

In the aftermath of the floods, Haftar’s rule in the east has come under scrutiny as it is alleged that his forces neglected to maintain the dam that burst in Derna, which ultimately cost many lives.

He and his forces also face accusations of widespread corruption and the exploitation of the floods to exert even more control over eastern Libya. 

Haftar is a US citizen and was once an ally of the US, he has more recently been strongly linked with Vladimir Putin and, specifically, the Wagner Group.

The mercenaries, who at that point were acting fully in line with Putin, were part of the Haftar’s unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the Tripoli government in 2020.

Though US AFRICOM released a generic statement saying it met a diverse array of forces in Libya to bring about a “united country”, others see the meeting as a tactical victory for Haftar and Russia's agenda in Libya.  

Hafed Al Ghwell, Executive Director of The North Africa Initiative & Senior Fellow at The Foreign Policy Institute, wrote on X: "[W]hat a farce !! ... a US general shaking hands and smiling with the official representative of Moscow and the Wagner group in Africa."