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US eyes bigger role for Libyan warlord as civil war looms

The United States has long struggled with how to handle Khalifa Hifter, as the former CIA asset has repeatedly threatened to march on the war-torn country’s capital.
Khalifa Haftar (C), the military commander who dominates eastern Libya, leaves after an international conference on Libya at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 29, 2018.  REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer - RC1C86F2EC00

The United Nations has postponed next week’s national reconciliation summit on Libya, throwing into confusion the Donald Trump administration’s hopes of reunifying the war-torn nation at the ballot box as erstwhile US ally Khalifa Hifter marches toward the capital.

UN envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame declared today that the world body “cannot ask people to take part in the conference during gunfire and airstrikes.” With the US-backed UN process in disarray, former US officials tell Al-Monitor the United States is becoming more open to Hifter commanding a unified Libyan military as a means of stopping his offensive, which has already left 47 dead according to the UN.

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