British newspaper: Haftar’s alliance with Moscow is a strong blow to Washington, which considered him one of its intelligence agents
A British newspaper reported that the alliance between the American Khalifa Haftar and Russia is a strong blow to Washington, which previously considered Haftar one of its Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agents.
The British newspaper, The Sunday Times, explained that the Kremlin is currently advancing throughout the African continent, with the support of Haftar, noting that Russia is exploiting it to create a bridge and a strong communication link between it and the African continent by strengthening its military presence.
It continued that over the past weeks, the Russian Navy took advantage of the world’s preoccupation with the war in Gaza and Iranian threats, and shipped thousands of tons of weapons to Libya. Since April 8, naval frigates have been arriving at the port of Tobruk, on a route they took from the Moscow naval base to the Syrian port of Tartous.
It went on to say, “One Russian naval frigate unloaded up to 6,000 tons of military equipment into Libyan territory, and the new Russian arms shipments coincided with Moscow’s decision to introduce regular Russian forces into Africa as an alternative to Wagner’s mercenaries.”
It pointed out that the movement of Russian warships also coincided with the arrival of Russian military trainers in Niger, after the ruling military junta’s decision to end long-term relations with America, and also coincided with Moscow establishing strong relations with the coup leaders in Mali and Burkina Faso.
The newspaper quoted Jalal Harchaoui, a researcher specializing in Libyan affairs, as saying that the Russian state is no longer hiding behind a company or mercenaries, as it is now sending military equipment openly, thanks to its strong alliance with the Haftar family.
He continued, saying, “The numbers of Russian regular forces have increased recently at the Brak al-Shati base to about 400, and Haftar also granted them the port of Tobruk after repeated visits with Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yunus Bek Yevkurov.”
He continued by saying, “This strong Russian relationship with Russia was aimed at signing an official defense memorandum that would lead to the establishment of a permanent Russian naval presence in Tobruk. I do not think that the memorandum has been signed yet, but Tobruk already serves as a naval channel for Moscow throughout Africa”.
