After his defeat in Tripoli and the fleeing of his defeated militias from the western region in June 2020, Haftar remained floundering, especially after the countries supporting him abandoned his military option.
Sometimes he announces a coup against the House of Representatives and at other times he threatens war again, but his options were rejected internationally and locally, which prompted him to take another path, and to move towards an international option that supports and welcomes the government of national unity and the new Presidential Council.
Recently, Haftar coordinated a tribal meeting to support him after statements from the Barqa tribes condemned the poor security situation in Benghazi, in particular, and the attacks carried out by his militia there.
Haftar appeared in his uniform, calling for the exit of the mercenaries and reconciliation in a strange, contradictory speech, and this meeting was preceded by military maneuvers by his militia led by his sons Saddam, Khaled and his son-in-law Ayoub, which he conducted in the absence of his chief of staff, Abdel-Razek Al-Nazouri, who press sources suggested that he was at odds with him. Because of his closeness to the government.
But the question posed here … What are the messages that Haftar wants to send with these practices?
Two paths parallel
The journalist, Musa Tihosai, said in a statement to Arraed: Haftar is trying to move in two parallel tracks, the first is his military presence in the current scene, and the second is to work on the upcoming elections at the end of the year. So he appears to welcome the current government.
Tihosai added that Haftar is trying to “keep his position” and push his sons to obtain any military position in the national unity government, in case they decide to appoint a defense minister and a new chief of staff. Therefore, signs of disagreement appeared between him and Abdul Razzaq Al-Nazouri, who is competing on this path.
Moussa saw that this explains the absence of Al-Nazouri from the military maneuver that the militias of Haftar’s sons recently conducted, but it is not excluded that Haftar tries to completely absent Al-Nazouri from the scene in any way possible – as he said.
Tihosai stated that Haftar’s movements are very clear to the observer through a large conference of tribes, along with statements in which he gives the impression that he is the leader of the country, but here it is necessary to pay attention to the constitutional path, perhaps something is being hatched about it, which requires attention to the articles of any constitutional rule. introduced to us; In order not to witness a new tyrant taking over the reins of power in the country, as he put it.
Appeasement and acquiescence
The writer Ali Abo Zaid said in a statement to Arraed that Haftar wants to send several messages, the most important of which is inside, especially his incubator, that he is still a difficult number in the scene and he cannot be passed.
Abo Zaid indicated that there are messages addressed to the new authority to the effect that the military establishment will not be unified unless he is at its head, and that his speech at the tribal meeting confirms that Haftar sees himself above any authority.
Abo Zaid believed that the last message sent by Haftar to the international community is that the settlement in Libya will not succeed unless he is on the scene, believing that the approach of appeasement and co-optation with him, which the new authority is adopting, will make him continue in this direction.
Candidate of Barqa
Libyan writer Abdul Aziz Al-Ghanai believes in a statement to Arraed that Haftar is preparing to run in the elections without a doubt and is trying to impose the vision of “the only candidate in Cyrenaica” to show his strength and to silence any voice calling for the candidacy of any other candidate.
Al-Ghanai said that his meeting with the military means two things: The first is the blessing of all of them for his next step, which is to take off the military uniform and run for the elections, and the second is his assertion that he is militarily in control of all of them and that he is the strongest man in the East and is able to manage the military in whatever he wants, as he said.
