The catalyst that sent the overall situation into an uncontrolled spiral was the phone call made on the 15th April by US President Donald Trump to Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar declaring his support for Haftar. The Trump call was clearly unbeknownst to the US State Department and probably other US agencies and departments, and even some of Trump’s closest advisors.
The last few days of April feel like Shakespeare’s ides of March for geopolitical star gazers in the MENA region. It’s often written that weak elites in the region are watching Algeria and Libya very carefully to see how much of a people’s revolution can permeate into other countries. But in reality all leaders of the MENA region are studying the events there, in particular Libya – a country which Russian President Putin felt was lost to the West, when in 2011, the UN voted to bomb it, which, unwittingly perhaps led to the overthrow of Gaddafi.
Libyan War Report – Apr. 30, 2019: Haftar Forces Launch Push To Encircle Tripoli The new battle for Tripoli entered its fourth week. Since April 4, when Field Marshal Khalifa
A massive shift in the geo-political status quo in North Africa has placed the United States in the passenger’s, not the pilot’s, seat. No longer does Washington, not even as a co-pilot with the French, influence the actions of key actors in North African affairs. The shift in the North African chessboard is the result of three recent major events. They are the resignation of Algeria’s ailing 82-year old president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who was about to begin his fifth term as president when massive protests led to his decision to step down.
An Iranian ship said, by the US, to contain weapons that allegedly anchored off Misrata port, was found to not have weapons in any of the containers following an inspection and a statement by Libyan authorities
in Misrata.
Is it a possible ‘false flag’ against Iran by America, that Haftar confirmed was true, as a way to repay Trump; a quid pro quo to return the favour for Trump’s telephone call of support to the Field Marshall the other week.
Sheila Coombes
21st Century Wire
‘Lock him up’ forever. That’s what Hilary wants for Julian Assange, and it’s easy to see why, after listening to his interview with stunning John Pilger from November 7, 2016.
The ethics of allowing retiring British government officials to use immediately ‘the revolving door’ seems immoral.
Something that immediately springs to mind is how did former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair amass a fortune of nearly £100m within years of leaving office?
Ponder that fact about Blair when considering the true definition of ethics and integrity in public life worldwide.
The Duran’s Alex Christoforou and Editor-in-Chief Alexander Mercouris take a look at a US President Trump’s apparent support for Khalifa Haftar, the leader of the Libyan National Army trying to capture Tripoli from the UN backed government of Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj.
Field Marshall Haftar’s forces control much of the eastern and southern parts of Libya. The LNA has steadily gained more territory as they march toward Tripoli. At the moment Haftar’s advance on the Libyan capital has been stalled by militias from Tripoli, Misrata, and Zintan.
There is little that Russia and the United States agree on these days. Renegade Libyan Field Marshal Khalifa Belqasim Haftar may be a rare exception. As Mr. Haftar’s mortars rained on the southern suburbs of the Libyan capital Tripoli and fighting between his Libyan National Army (LNA) and the United Nations-recognized government expanded to the south of the country, both[Read More...]
