Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the strong man of Cyrenaica, is needed more than ever as a key figure in the Libyan political and military scene. Wednesday, July 5, he proclaimed "total liberation" of the city of Benghazi, where the troops of the Army LNA were fighting "revolutionary" groups - composed of jihadists, but not exclusively - holed up in a few strongholds residual.
This battle of Benghazi started in spring 2014, when Khalifa Haftar, former close Gaddafi became exiled dissident in the US, before giving his competence in the 2011 revolution, sparked the offensive dubbed "Karama" ("Dignity") against radical Islamist groups who had engaged in a campaign of assassinations in the metropolis of eastern Libya. Three years later, the military hierarch named for Marshal of the Assembly folded in Tobruk, emerging as a clear winner, but at the cost of destruction and civilian victims denounced as "war crimes" by its opponents.
The rise of Haftar sharpens the diplomatic dilemma that Western governments face. Witness the controversy that erupted the day after the announcement of the "liberation" of Benghazi. The UN mission in Libya and the British ambassador in Libya,Peter Millett, welcomed in an almost identical language "liberation" of Benghazi as "hope" a first step towards "peace".The formula was not appreciated by opponents of Haftar marshal, mostly concentrated in Tripoli and Misrata (west). Abderrahmane Souihli figure policy Misrata and chairman of the State Council, an institution associated with the government of "national unity" sitting in Tripoli denounced the comments of M. Millett as a "green light" given to "rogue" Haftar to "attack" Tripoli.
Irritation
This reaction is symptomatic of irritation that grips hostile environments to the marshal before the current inflections among Western diplomats. After having snubbed or worked to his ouster from the command of the ANL, they took note of its military advances over the last year - in Benghazi and the oil Ascending particular - and opted for reinstate in a solution policy of the Libyan crisis. This change of foot is especially frowned upon in Misrata, headquarters of the main military force in Tripolitania, where recruiting the most irreconcilable opponents of the marshal.
"Realism" displayed by the West, where the imperatives of the fight against terrorism have their place, however, carries the risk of weakening the agreement Skhirat (Morocco)- signed in December 2015 - from which the government of "national unity" to Faïez Sarraj. The Marshal has indeed stopped obstructing the implementation of this new institutional supposed to embody national reconciliation. If the two men met in early May in Abu Dhabi (UAE), they have so far failed to agree on a crisis scenario. Encouraged by its military advances, Haftar barely admit formally his subordination to military authority to a civil power. He is encouraged by his inflexibility support - diplomatic, military and financial - it receives from Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. With its upward trajectory, he has repeatedly announced that it was preparing to "liberate" Tripoli. The aftershocks of the "liberation of Benghazi" could affect the coming weeks the Libyan capital.
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