Reply #14: In March 2001, Le Monde diplomatique published a chapter of the book Manipulations africaines, [View All]

[Hannah Bell]

in which the author indicated that "the Haftar force, created and financed by the CIA in Chad, vanished into thin air with the help of the CIA shortly after the Hissène Habré government was overthrown by Idriss Déby" (see also The Washington Post 26 Mar. 1996). A report published by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) on the Web site of the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) notes that in 1996 the main opposition group in Libya was the Libyan National Salvation Front (LNSF), founded in 1981 and headed by Muhammad Al-Muqaryif (CRS 19 Dec. 1996). Its military wing is known as the Libyan National Army and is headed by Colonel Haftar (ibid.; see also The Washington Post 26 Mar. 1996).

The same report indicates that Colonel Haftar joined the LNSF in March 1987 after he was captured in the Chadian war; his goal was to create an army to fight against the Libyan authorities (ibid.). The Washington Post reported on 26 March 1996 that, according to some sources, Colonel Haftar was the leader of the Libyan National Army, a group of counter-revolutionaries supported and trained by the United States and operating in Libya. According to the sources cited in the article, anti-government uprisings in Libya were led by Colonel Haftar from the United States (The Washington Post 26 Mar. 1996; see also CSR 19 Dec. 1996). A CRS report states that the United States was providing financial and military aid to the LNSF at that time and that a number of LNSF members were living in exile in the United States (ibid., see also The Washington Post 26 Mar. 1996). An article on the Daily Nation Web site at nationmedia.com reports that the American authorities permitted the "Haftar forces" to stay in Kenya before welcoming them to the United States (1 Mar. 1999). The "Haftar forces" had previously attempted to overthrow the Libyan government (Daily Nation 1 Mar. 1999)

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