A new power struggle is looming on Libya’s horizon. This time, the two opponents are Elseddik Haftar, the eldest son of Khalifa Haftar, and Saddam Haftar, the youngest, writes the newspaper Il fatto quotidiano. Two very different brothers competing to gain their father’s trust, as in the most banal of family stories.
Khalifa HaftarPhoto: AFP / AFP / Profimedia
The first – strikingly similar to his father – stands out in the family of the strongman of Cyrenaica: he does not hold military positions, he is not accused of serious crimes against humanity and there is – at least for now – no suspicion of corruption against him. Extremely active on social networks, in his biography on X he presents himself as a businessman and doctor of international law.
Elseddik is defined by analysts as a “jolly”, that clean face that could be useful to the field marshal if his candidacy in the future elections achieves the hoped-for results. When, on September 11, the city of Derna was destroyed by the fury of storm Daniel and the subsequent collapse of the two dams on the outskirts of the city, Elseddik Haftar was in Paris. A short stopover before flying to Strasbourg to the European Parliament and then on to Brussels to participate in the Brussels Europe Press Club, a permanent discussion forum bringing together international journalists which was inaugurated in 2010 by the former President of the European Commission , José Manuel Barroso.
The reason for his visit to the European institutions is more than clear: to lobby, ostensibly on behalf of his father, but mostly for himself. To the media’s questions, he answered with confidence: “My father, thanks to his wise leadership, had understood how things were a few days before the catastrophe occurred. A full alert was put in place: the army issued an order for citizens to evacuate the entire area. But, considering that the situation was unprecedented in our region, many residents did not react”.
Elseddik staunchly defended his father’s actions, but his version was debunked soon after. On the other hand, loyalty to the head of the family is the hallmark of all Haftar’s children.
But Elseddik knows that, compared to the other brothers, he has an advantage: he has no skeletons hidden in the closet and he has a good network of contacts in Europe. “I think I have all the means to help and stabilize Libya and bring unity and cohesion to Libyans,” he told reporters. “If the Libyans see that they can add value, that they can change things – he added – then why not?” However, Elseddik Haftar’s rise to power promises to be difficult.
The marshal has 6 children, one of whom is Saddam Haftar, the youngest and also the most ferocious and greedy for power, whose name is a tribute to the Iraqi dictator.
Accused by Amnesty International of war crimes, Saddam is 32 years old and since 2016 he is the head of the Tareq Ben Zayed militia, the most influential of the Libyan National Army (LNA), the military force of Eastern Libya, being considered by many as the possible successor of of Khalifa Haftar.
Even his father believes so, so much so that he asked Aguila Saleh, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Mohammed Menfi, the President of the Presidential Council, to support Saddam in the upcoming elections.
Haftar also promoted his candidacy among the tribal chiefs of Cyrenaica, some of whom, however, do not look favorably on the youngest son of the field marshal, whom they consider too violent. Despite never attending the military academy, he was immediately promoted to captain in 2016 and then colonel in 2019. A series of rapid promotions that didn’t end there for Saddam. Last week he was appointed head of the Disaster Response Committee, the body responsible for managing the emergency situation in Derna.
It’s just a shame that the young scion of the Haftar family has no experience in organizing relief efforts. In the past, it didn’t even have to do with a small evacuation, or fire. Nothing. However, one of the most important and delicate tasks of this period was entrusted to him.
Saddam will have to learn on the ground to coordinate rescue teams still digging through the rubble to try to recover more bodies, and above all, he will have to deal with massive economic aid coming in from the international community. A vault full of money to be managed entirely by him.
Not bad for a person accused of attacking the Cyrenaica headquarters of the Libyan Central Bank in 2017, stealing 160 million euros, 6 thousand silver coins and another 639 million Libyan dinars (more precisely, around 120 of millions of euros). Officially, the game between the two brothers is open. As stipulated by the electoral law, in order to participate in the presidential elections, Saddam would have to give up his military posts.
But with non-existent political weight, he is unlikely to give up the one thing of power he has, control of the armed forces.
Meanwhile, Khalifa Haftar continues to weave the international network that will support his rise to power. On Tuesday, September 26, he went to Moscow where he first met with the Minister of Defense, Serghei Shoigu, and on Thursday, September 28, with President Vladimir Putin.
The head of the Kremlin and Haftar had not met since 2019, that is, since Haftar’s offensive on the city of Tripoli – which later failed – supported by Wagner’s mercenaries. “They discussed the situation in Libya and the region as a whole,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state news agency Tass. Nothing concrete is known yet about the content of their meeting, only that two issues are on the table: the possibility of Russian ships using a port – a choice between Tobruk or Benghazi – for supplies or repairs; and future Russian support for Haftar’s cause following the departure of Wagner chief Evgeni Prighojin.
The successor of Putin’s former chef has already been chosen and is Andrei Troshev, retired colonel, former chief of staff of the Wagner group in Syria. It will be up to him to reorganize and rearm the group in Libya.
Article published with the support of Rador Radio Romania
