Libyan Financier Enabled ‘$300 Million in Loans’ for Haftar’s Tripoli Offensive | News

Offensive burdened the Libyan public with unpaid loans, and key figures faced no consequences, the report said.

A group of companies connected to Khalifa Haftar helped hundreds of millions of dollars in the eastern Libyan commander’s failed 2019–2020 attack on Tripoliaccording to a new investigation, and made the Libyan people bear the cost.

The report published on Tuesday by The Sentry, an investigative and political organization, said Libyan businessman Ahmed Gadalla functioned as a “key intermediary” for Haftar family members, securing $300 million in loans from a “minor” bank in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ahead of the offensive.

The months-long campaign by forces loyal to the renegade military commander to seize the Libyan capital from the United Nations-recognized government has killed hundreds of people and displaced hundreds of thousands.

The cost of the campaign was considerable. “The offensive required an effort of approximately $700 million mobilized in advance,” Sentry said.

According to the investigation, the money likely helped finance operations, including payments to Russia’s mercenary Wagner Group, which supported Haftar’s offensive.

The campaign ultimately resulted in Haftar’s Libyan National Army being pushed back from the capital and losing a series of western towns to forces loyal to the Government of National Accord.

“After Haftar’s offensive collapsed, the loans remained largely unpaid, leaving the Libyan public to bear the financial burden while Gadalla faced no accountability,” the report said.

Neither Gadalla nor the banks named in the report responded to requests for comment, The Sentry said.

Libya, a major oil-producing nation, has been plunged into turmoil since 2011, when longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi was toppled and killed in an uprising.

Despite failing to capture Tripoli, The Sentry claims that Gadalla has since expanded his influence over eastern Libya’s financial system, under the patronage of Haftar’s son Saddam, and exerted control over key banks.

“Gadalla has transitioned from an obscure financier to a dominant force in eastern Libya’s economy,” the report said.

“Gadalla exercised control over the Bank of Commerce and Development (BCD) and other financial institutions in eastern Libya, such as Wahda Bank and National Commercial Bank, and used them to facilitate large-scale letter of credit fraud and to launder illicit profits,” the investigation alleges.

The Libyan national is also reported to be involved in the circulation of counterfeit “Russian-printed dinars” that have weakened Libya’s local currency.

Arms acquisition

The report also links Gadalla to efforts to acquire and transfer military equipment to Sudan, in violation of a UN arms embargo.

Plans to secure Chinese drones, munitions and armored vehicles have been hatched. The Sentry said that a 145 m (475 ft) container ship operated by Gadalla loaded hundreds of containers of ammunition and military vehicles in the UAE in July before heading to Benghazi, Haftar’s stronghold.

The UAE has long denied accusations that it supplied arms to Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

European authorities later intercepted the vessel off the Greek island of Crete, where a search was conducted for the uncovered cargo despite shipping documents containing civilian goods, the investigation said.

Since hostilities broke out between the RSF and Sudan’s national army In April 2023, the conflict devastated the East African country, with the worst impact in Darfur, where the RSF has entrenched its dominance.

The violence left tens of thousands dead and forced approximately 11 million people from their homes, causing the largest displacement and hunger crisis in the world.

“The impunity of such second-tier operators is sustained by the fragmentation of Libyan state institutions and the diplomatic vacuum,” says the report, which warns that financial enablers play a critical role in maintaining armed groups and entrenching corruption.

The group called on Western governments, including the United States and countries in the European Union, to impose targeted sanctions on Gadalla and his network.

“Without concerted international action to hold enablers like Gadalla accountable, Libya faces the continued erosion of its economic foundations,” it concluded.