Strong Indications That Egypt And UAE Rescued Haftar’s Forces From Losing the Oil Ports

The Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) -led by Ibrahim Jadhran- have withdrawn from the Oil Crescent region in east Libya, hours after retaking Sidra and Ras Lanuf oil terminals from Haftar’s militia known as the Libyan National Army led (LNA), according to Libya Observer.

The Defense Ministry in the UN backed government indicated that “foreign warplanes have played a key role in defeating PFG forces.”

Libya Observer cited local media which reported that the “PFG accused Egypt and the UAE of bombing their forces near the residential district of Ras Lanuf. Four PFG fighters were killed in the airstrikes.”

The Defense Minister-designate Al-Mihdi Al-Baraghati told Ajwa Net that “There are strong indications that the UAE and Egyptian warplanes  bombed PFG forces in Ras Lanuf and Sidra, we are now making sure of these indications.”

In July, French warplanes intervened to rescue Dignity Operation from an imminent fall after Defend Benghazi Brigades advanced toward Benghazi. 13 DBB fighters were killed in the French airstrikes in Jilidiya district, 60 km east of Ajdabiya. The DBB halted their advance as a result.

Yesterday,the Petroleum Facilities Guards (PFG) have regained control over Ras Lanuf oil terminal and the Gulf of Sidra after confrontations with the Libyan National Army(LNA) .

This development came after the Presidential Council assigned the Government of National Accord (GNA), backed internationally, to regain the oil terminals that were taken over by Haftar’s forces days ago, a step which was condemned by the international actors.

The Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Haftar  had taken over oil facilities in eastern Libya from Petroleum Facilities Guards, a rival militia force allied to the UN-backed government in the capital, Tripoli.

Haftar is a military figure that is backed by the Tobruk government, based in eastern Libya and refuses to recognize the U.N.-backed government. He enjoys the support of several Arab nations, including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan, as well as western countries such as France.

Weeks ago, Haftar started extending his power in the east with the assistance of the Egyptian Armed Forces.

Egypt’s Armed Forces have been mandated to protect the joint borders from the sea to the Libyan-Sudanese borders.

Haftar requested the Egyptian army to protect Libyan/Egyptian borders from Imsaad, in the north, to the Libyan/Sudanese borders, as well as the maritime boundaries between both countries, “meaning that Haftar has granted Egypt unprecedented authority on Libyan territory,” said Libya Prospect.

Moreover, the oil tankers transporting Libyan petrol from Haftar-controlled regions in the east will be under Egypt’s authority in practice, the oil tankers will only be able to carry the oil and export unless Cairo approves.

With the assistance of the Egyptian Armed Forces, Haftar succeeded in controlling the oil terminals eastern Libya.He was also promoted by Tobruk House of Representative (HoR) as Field Marshall after he controlled the Oil Crescent eastern Libya.

Moreover, the legal adviser for the Army affiliated to General Khalifa Haftar and the Interim Government, Salah Abdul-Kareem, has stated earlier that Libya was ready to export the Libyan petroleum oil to Egypt for the Egyptian Pound to strengthen it in front of the foreign currencies.

Abdul-Kareem told an Egyptian TV channel that this was proposed to the Libyan House of Representatives (HoR), Oil Corporation, Interim Government, and the head of the Central Bank of Libya in Al-Baida, so Egypt doesn’t have to buy for the hard currency.

He stressed that Egypt must have benefited of the Libyan Oil.

Moreover, he also said that it was necessary to set up projects to link the Egyptian and Libyan peoples.

Abdul-Kareem confirmed  once more that the army under the leadership of Haftar is working with Egypt, adding that the UN envoy to Libya, Martin Kobler is not welcomed in Libya.

Al-Sisi of Egypt is a key ally to Khalifa Haftar as he declared his support in more than one occasion to the LNA.

In an interview with the Italian daily newspaper La Republica al-Sisi said that” there are positive results that can be achieved by supporting the Libyan National Army and these results can be achieved before we assume the responsibility of external intervening.”

Al-Sisi added, “If we give arms and support to the Libyan National Army, it can do the job much better than anyone else, better than any external intervention that would risk putting us in a situation that could get out of hand and provoke uncontrollable developments,” he said. He also added that Egypt encourages Tobruk’s parliament -which supports Haftar and the LNA- on approving the government of national unity.

In the same context, the renegade General Khalifa Haftar has confirmed that he is using the help of the foreign experts who are providing assistance in data analysis and military training in order to be able to carry out operations of a “special kind”.

In an interview with the Russian news agency Sputnik, Haftar said, “Putting Egypt and Chad aside, the rest of the neighboring countries have cold feet regarding taking a vividly clear stance toward me.” He added that Egypt and Chad understand, better than the rest, the Libyan scene and are providing very crucial assistance to him.