US calls on Haftar to stop Tripoli offensive amidst fears of Russia’s interference in the region
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The United States on Friday called on eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar to stop his offensive on the capital held by the internationally recognised government and warned against Russian interference.
Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) has been trying since April to take Tripoli, part of a power struggle in the oil producing nation since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
He is backed by Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and most recently Russian mercenaries, according to diplomats and Tripoli officials. The LNA denies it has foreign backing.
“The United States calls on the ‘Libyan National Army’ to end its offensive on Tripoli,” the U.S. State Department said in statement late on Thursday after a visit to Washington by the Tripoli-based foreign and interior ministers.
Meanwhile the Guardian reports that fears that Russian mercenaries, unofficially backed by Moscow, are tipping the scales in Libya in favour of the military leader Khalifa Haftar appears to have prompted the US to issue a strong warning to the general to pull back.
Reports that Russian mercenaries employed by the Wagner group are tipping the balance in favour of Haftar has raised fears in Washington that Libya could be lost to Russia in the same way as Syria. The unofficial Russian forces are seen to be testing the ground to help Haftar win control of the oil-rich country.
