Diplomatic tour to Europe by Libyan military strongman's son ends in fiasco
In recent months Siddiq Haftar, the eldest son of Libyan military strongman and suspected war criminal Khalifa Haftar, has been seeking to establish his international credentials as he eyes a possible bid to be his country's president one day. One of his ambitions was to be greeted in style at the European Parliament, and he duly visited the institution in September. But, as Mediapart reveals, the visit, led by a media-friendly imam and a far-right Member of the European Parliament, turned to fiasco. Yann Philippin and Antton Rouget report.
AA society reception in Paris, a speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg and a press conference in Brussels. Anxious to forge a reputation on the diplomatic scene, the businessman Siddiq Haftar, eldest son of Libyan military strongman Marshal Khalifa Haftar, who is the object of several investigations for war crimes and whose government is not recognised by the international community, dreamt of conducting his first tour of European leaders in mid-September.
