The perks of being on Khalifa Haftar’s side: just what drives France’s support of the warlord hungry for Libya?
when it comes to supplying weapons and offering logistical support to Haftar's forces, its active involvement in the conflict dates back to 2015. It was at this time that Haftar emerged as a troublemaker in the conflict, someone hellbent on reversing whatever little peace and stability the UN-backed government had tried to secure in Libya.
Much to the shock and embarrassment of the Macron administration, Paris's position on Libya was revealed in 2016 when three undercover French soldiers died in a helicopter crash in Benghazi. Since the event, France has time and again come under international scrutiny over its shady role in Libya's civil war. For one, it has violated the UN arms embargo on several occasions. In July 2019, a Pentagon investigation concluded that Paris had supplied American-made anti-tank missiles to Haftar's forces.
Along the way, Paris ended up antagonising its NATO partner, Italy. Matteo Salvini, the country’s Deputy Prime Minister, last yearSalvini went on with his critique and declared that its European neighbour was going against NATO's position on Libya because its oil interests were opposed to those of Italy. crude oil reserves in the African continent. It has a capacity to generate 48.4 billion barrels. Under Muammar Gaddafi's rule, it produced 1.
Many regional experts say France's policy towards the tiny North African country is largely driven by its economic interests rather than spreading democracy - an excuse the US and its European allies used to invade Iraq and Afghanistan. For Macron, therefore, shaping a warlord into a strongman who could deliver on the promise of supplying oil to France, is an advantageous option for the administration.
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