...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all...from his "General Commander" position and to replace him with Abdul-Razaq Nadouri, Chief of Staff of HoR forces.
In a string of tweets, Noman Ben Othman called for "the salvation of Cyrene from the adventures of Wadi Doum", an apparent reference to the battle which Libyan forces staged against Chadian forces in Wadi Doum in 1987. Around 1269 Libyan soldiers were killed and 438 others taken as war prisoners including Khalifa Haftar who commanded the battle.
Ben Othman described Haftar’s rejection to recognize Aqailah Saleh as "the Supreme Commander of the Libyan Army" as "rebellion."
In a video posted by his own TV channel Libya Alhadat, Khalifa Haftar told Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, Presidential Council Chairman Fayez Sarraj, presidents of Tunisia and Egypt, and representatives of Russia, La Belle France and EU to the Palermo Conference that the post of "Supreme Commander of the Libyan Army" - Aqailah Saleh - should only be granted to an elected president of the country and that it should currently be passed to the "the General Commander" - Haftar - until elections are held.
"Rajma camp ‐ Haftar’s HQ ‐ is acting now without legitimacy or supervision from control authorities, thus, from now on, Haftar has become an outlaw rebel." Ben Othman tweeted.
"After the rebellion against all legitimate and political authorities and all civil institutions in the country, the stances of Egypt and the UAE will become very embarrassing if they continue to support the rebel, which could slide the country into a civil war and thus chaos in which terrorism prevails." He said.