Saddam Haftar’s plane arrived in Abu Dhabi during Netanyahu’s visit — Jerusalem Post
An aircraft used by Libyan presidential candidate Saddam Haftar flew from Benghazi to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday. This took place while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in the UAE to meet with the country’s president, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Jerusalem Post reports, citing the Italian outlet Il Foglio.
Flight data
According to flight-tracking websites, an Airbus A319 with registration number P4-KH5I9 flew from Benghazi to Abu Dhabi. The aircraft was used by Saddam Haftar, the son of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the head of the Benghazi-based Libyan National Army.
Il Foglio suggested that Saddam Haftar and Benjamin Netanyahu may have met in the UAE. However, neither Israeli officials nor Libyan sources close to Haftar had confirmed such a meeting at the time of publication.
On the same day Netanyahu was in the UAE, tracking data also indicated the arrival of state aircraft from Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Qatar at Al Bateen Executive Airport, located southeast of Abu Dhabi.
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Previous contacts
The UAE was one of the main allies of Khalifa Haftar and his Libyan National Army during the civil war in Libya. After the conflict eased in 2021, the LNA retained control over significant parts of the country’s east and south, although international organizations largely do not recognize it as Libya’s de facto government.
Media previously reported contacts between Israeli representatives and the Haftars. In 2021, officials from Israel’s Ministry of Intelligence reportedly met with Saddam Haftar. In November of that year, according to Haaretz, he briefly stopped at Ben Gurion Airport en route from Dubai to Libya to discuss possible normalization of relations.
In January 2022, Khalifa Haftar’s private aircraft, according to Jerusalem Post reporting at the time, landed in Israel and remained there for two hours before returning to Cyprus.
