Report 1214

From a Wall Street Journal report on Friday:

Days before Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive to seize the capital and attempt to unite the divided country under his rule, Saudi Arabia promised tens of millions of dollars to help pay for the operation, according to senior advisers to the Saudi government. …

Foreign powers including the U.S. and the European Union have looked to Mr. Haftar, whose forces control much of eastern Libya, as a necessary participant in peace negotiations with the United Nations-backed government in Tripoli. …

Mr. Haftar accepted the recent Saudi offer of funds, according to the senior Saudi advisers, who said the money was intended for buying the loyalty of tribal leaders, recruiting and paying fighters, and other military purposes.

The American Conservative’s Daniel Larison adds:

The UAE has been one of Haftar’s principal backers for many years, but the Saudi role as a sponsor in the conflict has been growing. Considering the havoc those governments have wrought in Yemen and the increasing recklessness of Saudi foreign policy under Mohammed bin Salman, it is not surprising that the Saudis encouraged Haftar in his ill-considered gamble. Both governments have become the leading destabilizing forces in the region over the last few years, and the new attack on Tripoli is the latest example of that. Like their previous destructive power plays in other parts of the region, the Saudi-backed attack has gone poorly and backfired on their client.