Report: Netanyahu met son of powerful Libyan general in Abu Dhabi

Some 20 minutes after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu touched down in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, another plane did, too.

Flight data showed the plane that landed shortly after the Israeli leader was a private Airbus jet with registration number P4-KH5I9. According to the Italian Il Foglio daily, that jet is regularly used by Saddam Haftar, deputy commander of the Libyan National Army and a presidential contender.

The Libyan National Army is a faction in divided Libya led by Saddam’s father, Khalifa Haftar, who is the de facto ruler of the country’s east.

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The close landings have fueled speculation that the two men had a covert meeting in the United Arab Emirates. Il Foglio cited Mohamed Buisier, a former adviser to Khalifa Haftar, who claimed that “Saddam met Netanyahu to secure political support for his bid for the Libyan presidency.”

A US-backed power-sharing deal meant to unify Libya, which is split between Khalifa Haftar’s strongman rule and opposing forces based in Tripoli, would have Saddam installed as Libya’s president.

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Netanyahu reportedly flew with senior advisers to meet with Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, according to Channel 12, which cited two unnamed sources. Reuters also reported on the alleged meeting between Netanyahu and bin Zayed, citing an unnamed senior Israeli official.

In 2021, Saddam Haftar was reported to visit Israel for a secret meeting in which he offered to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries in return for Israeli support for his family’s faction, according to the Haaretz daily.

That same year, the Israel Hayom daily reported that one of Haftar’s sons signed a contract with an Israeli public relations firm registered in the UAE ahead of presidential elections that had been expected that year, but which have yet to take place.

Libya plunged into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. In the chaos that followed, the country split, with rival administrations in the east and west backed by rogue militias and foreign governments.

Khalifa, the elder Haftar who launched an offensive aimed at capturing Tripoli in 2019, has been backed by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Russia. The Tripoli-based militias opposed to his rule, meanwhile, have been aided by Qatar, Italy and Turkey.

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