Conflicting reports about Khalifa Haftar condition

Posted on April 13, 2018 by Europe correspondent Leave a comment

Libyan military leader Marshall Khalifa Haftar has been treated in a hospital in Paris, a French source confirming earlier reports from Libyan officials and media.

Haftar, 75, is the dominant figure in eastern Libya (Cyrenaica) and has long been seen as a likely contender to unite the country. As commander the Libyan National Army (LNA), a force aligned with a government based in the east which has opposed a rival, internationally backed government in the capital, Tripoli.

The French source declined to comment on Haftar’s condition. At present there are conflicting reports in mass and social media: according to some reports in Arab media, Haftar suffered a stroke and was transported to Paris for an urgent treatment, the others went as far, as declaring him clinically dead:

Khalifa #Haftar is in a coma at a French hospital suffering from brain hemorrhage, the Chairman of European Institute for International Law and International Relations, Mahmoud Refaat, confirms. pic.twitter.com/OULFqteiu7

— The Libya Observer (@Lyobserver) April 11, 2018

However in parallel the other information about him being active also started to circulate.

SRSG @GhassanSalame and Field Marshall Khalifa #Haftar communicated today via phone and discussed the general situation in #Libya and the latest political developments in the country

— UNSMIL (@UNSMILibya) April 13, 2018