{"id":67626,"date":"2024-04-19T11:39:15","date_gmt":"2024-04-19T11:39:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2024\/04\/19\/russia-funneling-weapons-through-libyan-port-eying-gateway-to-africa\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T01:07:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T01:07:34","slug":"russia-funneling-weapons-through-libyan-port-eying-gateway-to-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2024\/04\/19\/russia-funneling-weapons-through-libyan-port-eying-gateway-to-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia funneling weapons through Libyan port, eying gateway to Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ROME \u2014 Russian vessels have been unloading thousands of tons of military equipment in the eastern Libyan port of Tobruk this month after repeated visits by Russia\u2019s deputy defense minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov to Gen. Khalifa Haftar, the strongman running eastern Libya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The shipments, arriving from the Russian-controlled port of Tartus in Syria, contain towed artillery, armored personnel carriers and rocket launchers according to video released by Libyan news site Fawasel Media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The equipment may in part be used to sustain Russia\u2019s growing military presence in eastern Libya, but are also likely destined for countries further south in Africa like Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso where Russia has ties to leaders of recent coups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some experts see the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/mideast-africa\/2024\/02\/02\/what-military-advantage-could-russia-get-out-of-libya\/\">uptick in activity<\/a> as a result of America\u2019s diplomatic strategy toward Haftar, which has failed to stop the warlord from allying with Russia and given Moscow the chance to pour weapons into the country, turning it into a gateway to supply its growing presence across Africa, the criticism goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEastern Libya is becoming a significant way station into Africa for Russia, and it comes after the U.S. seriously misplayed Haftar,\u201d said Ben Fishman, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere has been an continuous U.S. attempt to engage with Haftar, rather than isolate him, but he has repeatedly defied our requests and UN requests and moved closer to Russia. The U.S. approach has been to run the same football play over and over and expect a different result,\u201d said Fishman, who previously served on the National Security Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fishman said that Haftar had received Russian visits and made trips to Moscow while also holding meetings in Libya with Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf and U.S. special envoy Richard Norland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIndeed, the day after Norland and the Commander of Africom visited Derna in eastern Libya after the floods last September, Haftar flew to Moscow,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTheir approach was \u2018He will move closer to Russia if we isolate him,\u2019 but he moved closer anyway and Moscow is profiting,\u201d said Fishman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Through its proxy Wagner mercenaries, Russia backed Haftar\u2019s failed bid to conquer western Libya in 2019 after the country split following the ousting of national leader Col. Muamar Gadaffi in 2011.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">American diplomacy has recently aimed at convincing Haftar to take part in national elections to reunite the country, while Moscow has reportedly focused on negotiating a permanent Russian naval presence at Tobruk, giving it a foothold in the central Mediterranean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As Russian military instructors meanwhile arrive in Niger to support coup leaders who took over the country last year, the fate of a U.S. base in the country from which drone flights are launched across Africa is in the balance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFor some U.S. officials, Haftar is a good anti-terrorism asset so they are prepared to look away when he abuses human rights or jumps into bed with the Russians,\u201d said a former Western diplomat who declined to be identified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBut if the U.S. is worried about Russia\u2019s growing role in Africa then maybe it should go beyond occasionally expressing concern,\u201d the diplomat said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On April 17, a U.S. Navy MQ-4C Triton drone flying out of Sigonella airbase in Sicily monitored Tobruk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fishman argued that the U.S. should have enlisted the help of the UAE or Egypt, who back Haftar. \u201cEgypt has no interest in an increased Russian presence across the border in Libya &#8211; this was a missed opportunity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe never made it clear that isolation was an option. The next move could be sanctions, although that could be complicated by the fact that Haftar is a U.S. citizen. Aware of the threat, he has reportedly been moving accounts out of the U.S.,\u201d said Fishman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before marshaling troops in Libya, Haftar was a CIA asset, living for years in Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fishman said, \u201cTo reduce Russia\u2019s ability to use Tobruk, there could be disruption of radar use or the stationing of vessels off the coast \u2013 but that is now impossible now given our commitments in the Red Sea.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The dynamic is partly due to America &#8220;misplaying&#8221; eastern Libyan warlord Gen. Khalifa Haftar, said one issue expert.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":118834,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":46,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[160,46,11,47,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3345],"class_list":["post-67626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-europe","category-global","category-mideast-africa","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"YPXZBQF6WNBG3EKZDDQO3CNTMA","arc_canonical_url":"\/global\/europe\/2024\/04\/19\/russia-funneling-weapons-through-libyan-port-eying-gateway-to-africa\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Russia funneling weapons through Libyan port, eying gateway to Africa - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The dynamic is partly due to America &quot;misplaying&quot; eastern Libyan warlord Gen. 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