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Libya's Rising Strongman: Gen. Khalifa Abulgasim Hifter Survives Attack

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The string of quick military successes directed by Hifter in western Libya resulted in the rebel capture of Tripoli.     

 

Members of the Belhaj faction began touting him as Libya's paramount military leader.

 

Hifter, who had been a principal driver in Libya's armed rebellion and a key figure in its success, spoke on Sept. 14 to a packed auditorium of former Libyan military officers who were there especially to hear him.   According to a McClatchy Newspaper report of the event, "Hifter said he'd never met Belhaj, but said, 'I think he's a good guy.   He's a Libyan.' "

 

That report said a Belhaj spokesman had asserted that Belhaj, leader of the Tripoli Military Council, was responsible for Tripoli's military forces and that his position had been confirmed by NTC Chairman Mustafa Abdul-Jalil. Hifter indicated that his authority superseded that of Belhaj, and recognized Belhaj's command of "the revolutionaries in Tripoli."

 

"Now we will rebuild the army," Hifter said.

 

HIfter's Return from Exile

 

Hifter, a long-time expatriate opposition leader, had been greeted with immediate acceptance upon his return in March to Libya from the United States.   He and members of his family had flown from Washington, DC, to Cairo, then travelled by car from Egypt to Benghazi, according to a family member's account for this story.   On the road from Tobruq they passed through Derna, where Hifter graduated from high school.  

 

His arrival in Benghazi, "was greeted happily by rebels who felt he could bring leadership to opposition forces mired in the desert" to the west, a July 28 BBC report says.   "Video clips posted to opposition Facebook and YouTube pages showed Hifter touring the front lines, much as Younes had after his appointment, looking very much the general."  

 

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David Alan Coia is a freelance writer and editor based in Arlington, VA.
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