Libyan Warlord Embraced by Foreign Leaders as a Key to Peace
Despite rights-abuse allegations, Commander Khalifa Haftar gains sway as he fights Islamist militias and expands control over warring, oil-rich nation
Decades after he led a CIA-backed military campaign against Moammar Gadhafi’s regime, a powerful Libyan warlord has become central to international efforts to stabilize the warring nation that holds Africa’s largest oil reserves.
A former general in Gadhafi’s army, Khalifa Haftar spent two decades in exile in northern Virginia after the failed 1980s assault. He returned home during the 2011 revolution against Gadhafi and took command of some rebel forces that helped oust the dictator, plunging the country into years of political...