Haftar’s “Libyan solution”: A sovereignty claim or a power grab?

For months now, Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar has been pushing to further legitimize his long-standing grip on power in Libya’s eastern and parts of southern regions. The general—who launched what he and his supporters called the Karama (“Dignity”) Revolution in May 2014—has always had one overriding ambition: to rule Libya. His self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), initially composed of former Gaddafi-era soldiers and new volunteers, became the vehicle for that ambition. More than a decade later, Haftar’s influence has not waned. Instead, it has evolved—strengthened and partially legitimised by economic ventures and large-scale reconstruction projects across the east, including the rebuilding of 2023 flood-devastated Derna. In Sirte, at the heart of the country, LNA-backed projects have transformed the city’s landscape, […]