“A Russian-backed warlord vying for power in Libya has hired a one-time senior aide to President Bill Clinton and a former Republican lawmaker to lead a nearly $1 million effort to lobby the Biden administration for political support, documents show.”
“Lanny Davis and former Rep. Robert Livingston (R., La.) have signed with militia leader Khalifa Haftar to try to arrange meetings with officials at the White House, State Department and Congress before Libya’s national election scheduled for December, documents filed with the Justice Department show. Human-rights organizations and international prosecutors have accused Mr. Haftar’s forces of war crimes.”
“The lobbying campaign is an effort by Mr. Haftar to regain some of the influence he has lost since the collapse last year of his 14-month long offensive against the country’s internationally-recognized government in Tripoli. A U.N.-brokered unity government took office in Libya earlier this year after Mr. Haftar’s attempt to seize power unraveled in the face of a Turkish-backed counteroffensive.”
“A one-time commander in the Libyan military, Mr. Haftar broke with longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi in the late 1980s. He later led, with CIA backing, a campaign against the Gadhafi regime and lived for two decades in northern Virginia. When the uprising against Gadhafi began in 2011, Mr. Haftar flew back to Libya and led fighters in the rebellion. He now faces lawsuits in the U.S. brought by Libyans accusing his forces of torture, summary killings and other war crimes during his military operations in Libya.”
“Libya faces a range of challenges leading up to the planned December election, including the presence of foreign mercenary forces in the country. Russia has dispatched thousands of paramilitary fighters from Russia, Syria and elsewhere along with MiG-29 jet fighters and other military hardware to support Mr. Haftar’s forces since 2019. Turkey also has sent Syrian fighters to support the Tripoli government.”
“Mr. Hafter hasn’t declared his candidacy in the December election, but some analysts expect him to run. His forces still control much of the country, including the city of Benghazi and oil installations.”
“Mr. Haftar has agreed to pay $160,000 a month total over six months for Messrs. Davis and Livingston’s services, and intends to visit Washington for meetings with senior U.S. officials “to advocate for the December 24, 2021 elections in Libya.””
“Among the two men’s priorities will be to free Mr. Haftar from the label “warlord,” broadly applied to him over the years since he broke with the authorities in Tripoli and launched a rogue military campaign in 2014.”
“The lobbyists will promote the notion that because Mr. Haftar has worked with the U.S. in the past and was involved in efforts to overthrow Mr. Gadhafi, he should be regarded as a player in Libya’s future. Their ultimate goal is to win Mr. Haftar support from the West ahead of the December general election, a person familiar with the arrangement said.”
“Mr. Haftar has hired other lobbyists to represent him in Washington in recent years and built inroads to the Trump administration, including during his 2019 assault on Tripoli. Former President Trump called Mr. Haftar during the opening days of the conflict to voice his support for the commander’s vision for Libya, a conversation arranged by Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton.”
“Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi also urged Mr. Trump to support Mr. Haftar during his war against the Tripoli government. Mr. Sisi has lost clout in Washington due to Egypt’s declining human rights record, forcing Mr. Haftar to rely on lobbyists to advocate for him in Washington.”
“The Biden administration hasn’t stressed Libya in its overall foreign-policy approach, focusing instead on the military withdrawal from Afghanistan and confronting China.”
Read more: Libyan Warlord Hires Ex-Clinton Aide Lanny Davis, Ex-Republican House Leader Bob Livingston, to Lobby D.C. (archived)
Related (update): US lobbying firms terminate one million dollars contract with Haftar
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