Libya's Haftar and Jibril visit Egypt for talks with intelligence officials

Libya’s coup d’état leader General Khalifa Haftar reportedly flew to Egypt two days ago, along with his ally Mahmoud Jibril, the chairman of the Civil Forces Alliance Party, to attend a meeting with Egyptian military intelligence officials, Al-Araby Al-Jadid reported.

According to an informed source the objective of the visit was to discuss solutions and alternative plans after the defeat of Haftar’s troops in Benghazi. The meeting has also been attended by the interim Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdelaziz.

The source said Jibril seemed “disturbed” by the retreat of his forces in Tripoli before the forces of the so-called “Libyan Dawn”, which comprises a number of brigades from Misrata and 12 other cities.

He pointed out that one of the proposed alternatives is “urgent financial support” for Haftar and Jibril’s troops to enable them to buy weapons and pay the salaries of soldiers, and to lure the dropouts to re-join the fight.

The source denied Arab media reports that Haftar had fled Libya, but he confirmed that Haftar’s supporters in Marj city, 100 kilometres east of Benghazi, are dismayed at Haftar’s failure to back the commander of his Benghazi “thunderbolt troops”, despite the latter’s requests for military assistance.