AMMAN: Libya military commander Khalifa Haftar is in Jordan for crucial reconciliation talks with Libya’s Fayez Sarraj head of the Presidential Council, Arab News has learned.
Senior government sources told Arab News that Field Marshal Khalifa Aftar, the head of the Libyan national army is in Jordan without giving reasons for the visit. Pundits believe that his visit is aimed at speeding up reconciliation talks with Sarraj.
A Jordanian website said that Sarraj will be visiting Jordan Saturday at the head of a large contingency that includes the head of the intelligence service, and the ministers, of higher education, heath and foreign affairs.
Libyan Ambassador to Jordan, Mohammad Barghathi posted Wednesday on his facebook account a photo that included Haftar with the ambassador.
“Meeting with Field Marshal Khalifa Bilqasim Haftar the commander in chief of the Libyan Army,” the amabassador said in the post. The meeting included “discussions about the homeland and the building of the state and commitment to holding elections and respecting the peaceful transfer of power.”
Bargahthi called such future actions “the basis to build the hoped for national state.”
It is unclear what the added value of Jordan is for the Libyans. Adnan Abu Odeh a former adviser to King Hussein and King Abdullah II told Arab News that he was surprised by the news.
“I am not sure why Jordan was chosen for the reconciliation meetings. We are not neighbors and we don’t have loads of money, but maybe a third party suggested to hold the meeting in Jordan as a neutral setting,” he told Arab News.
