The Head of the Libyan Presidential Council, Mohammed Menfi, arrived in Nigeria on Monday to participate in the extraordinary summit of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC), landing in the Nigerian capital on a private jet notoriously used by Khalifa Haftar in the past years, which opens doors to interpretation as to what kind of relationship Menfi and Haftar - who so far has no state political or military capacity - have.
Menfi attended Tuesday the LCBC summit to discuss the political and security impact of the unrest in Chad upon an invitation from the Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.
The fact that Menfi chose to use Haftar's private jet stirred a heated controversy in Libya, especially that the plane left eastern region - where Haftar is located - and arrived in Tripoli Monday for the Nigeria trip.
The controversy doubles up when knowing that the (Falcon900 P4-RMA), which Menfi boarded, was implicated in UN and other international reports as being used by Haftar and his allies to "smuggle Libyan gold to Venezuela".
This all comes as Haftar is reported to have been preparing for a massive military procession to commemorate the seventh anniversary of his so-called Operation Dignity that was launched in Benghazi in May 2014, despite Menfi's previous orders - as the Libyan Army Chief Commander - that prohibit military movements or media statements for military officers without prior permission from him: orders that Haftar and his entourage haven't abided by so far.
|