The Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, Adel Jumua, has denied the report by Africa Intelligence that said the Prime Minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah and Khalifa Haftar’s representatives hled a secret meeting in Dubai to negotiate Haftar’s influence in the government. Jumua said he didn’t meet any UAE official or any representative of Haftar.
According to Africa Intelligence sources, a new top-secret round of negotiations took place in Dubai from 20 to 23 July to try to come to an agreement that would allow the Haftar camp to appoint the ministers of finance, planning, defense, and possibly foreign affairs, but also – and especially – the two positions of deputy prime ministers representing Cyrenaica (east) and Fezzan (south).
The website said the Dubai talks were conducted under the auspices of the Emirati intelligence services – which have been trying in vain for months to promote a Dbeibah-Haftar deal.
Africa Intelligence said Adel Jumua and Dbeibah’s adviser Ahmed Al-Sharkasi, a relative of his by marriage, were present.
“Representing Haftar was his son and adviser, Saddam Haftar, who, according to some sources, was acting on his own initiative. He was flanked by a Libyan living in Dubai, Ahmed Al-Ashibi, who is sometimes referred to as the ‘the Haftar sons’ financier’. Al-Ashibi is a central figure in the economic and monetary system of eastern Libya, exerting an indirect but major influence on several commercial banks in Cyrenaica.” The website said.
