Is Washington Endorsing Family Rule in Libya?
Key takeaways
- To celebrate America’s 250th birthday, our entire site is completely unlocked this week only.
- In the country’s east, state authorities are dominated by the family of Khalifa Haftar, who heads the Libyan Arab Armed Forces.
- Saddam Haftar, the son and heir apparent of Khalifa Haftar, met with U.S.
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Libya remains mired in dysfunction. In the country’s east, state authorities are dominated by the family of Khalifa Haftar, who heads the Libyan Arab Armed Forces. In the west, the Dbeibah family has sought to entrench its power through control of the internationally recognized Government of National Unity under the leadership of Prime Minister Abdel Hamid al-Dbeibah. The United States is seeking to end this division through a diplomatic deal.
Saddam Haftar, the son and heir apparent of Khalifa Haftar, met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington D.C. yesterday. The State Department’s readout said that the two men discussed “ongoing Libyan-led efforts to unify the country’s military, economic, and political institutions.” No deal was announced, but the welcoming of Haftar to the United States was a significant step. Nonetheless, the Trump administration has been keen to insist that its plans are not solely based on bringing the Haftars and the Dbeibahs together. “Our plan is to have one unified government and to unify all the institutions,” Massad Boulos, the U.S. senior advisor for Africa, told the Financial Times of his efforts to broker what was described as a power sharing arrangement in Libya. Yet in reality, unification on the terms laid out by Boulos would legitimize family rule by the Haftars and the Dbeibahs in Libya.