| Khalifa Belqasim Haftar | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Allegiance |
 Libyan Arab Jamahiriya(until 1987)  Libya (2011-) |
| Service/branch |
Libyan Ground Forces |
| Rank | Lieutenant General |
| Battles/wars |
Chadian–Libyan conflict (1978–1987) Libyan civil war * Battle of Ajdabiya * Third Battle of Brega |
Khalifa Belqasim Haftar (sometimes spelled Hifter, Hefter or Huftur) (Arabic language: خليفة بالقاسم حفتر) is a senior military officer in Libya. In April 2011, he was reported as holding the rank of lieutenant general.
Formerly one of Muammar Gaddafi's army commanders in the Chadian–Libyan conflict, he fell out with the regime when Libya lost the war, and sought exile in the United States. Some sources have reported ties with the US Central Intelligence Agency.[1] After falling out with the Gaddafi regime, Haftar set up his own militia financed by the CIA, according to the 2001 book Manipulations africaines, published by Le Monde diplomatique. After entering the United States in the 1990s, Haftar took up residence in Vienna, Virginia, five miles outside of Langley, Virginia.[2] Haftar comes from the Farjani tribe.[3]
In 2011 he returned to Libya to support the Libyan civil war. In March, a military spokesperson announced that Haftar had been appointed commander of the military, though the National Transitional Council denied this.[4] By April, Abdul Fatah Younis held the role of commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, Omar El-Hariri serving as Younis' Chief of Staff and Haftar took the third most senior position as the commander of ground forces with the rank of lieutenant general.[5][6]
References[]
- ↑ Russ Baker (22 April 2011). "Is General Khalifa Hifter The CIA’s Man In Libya?". Business Insider. http://www.businessinsider.com/the-cias-man-in-libya-2011-4.
- ↑ "A Debate on U.S. Military Intervention in Libya: Juan Cole v. Vijay Prashad". Democracy Now. 29 March 2011. http://www.democracynow.org/2011/3/29/a_debate_on_us_military_intervention.
- ↑ John Ruedy (1996). Islamism and Secularism in North Africa. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 195. ISBN 0-312-16087-9. http://books.google.fi/books?id=MfC1zAYoQHQC&lpg=PA195&ots=hfx9BWXUyP&dq=Khalifa%20Haftar%20farjani&pg=PA195#v=onepage&q=Khalifa%20Haftar%20farjani&f=false.
- ↑ Chris McGreal, "Libyan rebel efforts frustrated by internal disputes over leadership". The Guardian (3 April 2011)
- ↑ "The colonel feels the squeeze". 19 May 2011. http://www.economist.com/node/18713650?story_id=18713650&fsrc=rss. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
- ↑ "The task of forming a more effective anti-Gaddafi army". BBC. 15 April 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/markurban/2011/04/the_task_of_forming_a_more_eff.html. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
External links[]
- Libya: The Djava Khalifa Haftar movement, whose founding leader is reportedly a soldier named Khalifah Haftar, who currently in exile in the United States (May 2006), Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, LBY101307.FE, accessed 19 October 2013, citing Haftar's previous anti-regime activities and subsequent exile
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The original article can be found at Khalifa Belqasim Haftar and the edit history here.