Libya’s Haftar visits Paris to meet Macron amid Tripoli offensive

Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar was in Paris on Wednesday for a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron amid growing international concern about a month-long offensive to take Libya’s capital, Tripoli.

The closed-door meeting comes two weeks after Macron hosted Libya’s struggling UN-backed prime minister, who denounced Haftar’s offensive as an attempted coup, AP said.

Macron’s office has expressed support for Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj but hasn’t openly addressed claims that France is secretly backing Haftar.

Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army, based in the country’s east, is battling rival militants loosely allied with Sarraj’s government.