Libya air power boosted:

Mideast

Haftar

Emirati assistance that violates a UN arms embargo has significantly boosted air power for forces loyal to Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar, a report by UN investigators published on Friday said.

Air power has helped Haftar’s easternbased Libyan National Army (LNA) gain the upper hand since last year in Libya’s conflict between rival groups vying for power.

The panel of experts which reports on violations of UN sanctions across Libya said Haftar’s forces had received aircraft as well as military vehicles from the United Arab Emirates, and had built up an air base at Al Khadim.

The annual UN report provides rare detail on the level of outside intervention in Libya, where foreign backing for rival armed camps is widely seen as having exacerbated conflict.

Friday’s report said there had been a general increase in direct foreign support to armed factions in Libya, breaching a UN arms embargo imposed during the country’s 2011 uprising and tightened in 2014.

Much of the section on recent transfers of materiel or other assistance was taken up by the development of the LNA air force and reports of UAE assistance.

“The United Arab Emirates have been providing both material support and direct support to the LNA, which have significantly increased the air support available to the LNA,” it said.

The panel said its requests for information from the UAE had received no response.

Competition for power and wealth between broad and shifting coalitions of armed groups has thrown Libya into turmoil over the past six years. A collection of Islamistleaning militias took control of the capital, Tripoli, in 2014, installing a self-declared government as their opponents set up a rival administration in the east. (RTRS)