The British Financial Times newspaper wrote that the revolutionary successor to Haftar has become a burden for France and that the main reason behind Paris accusing it against Ankara is an attempt to cover up its mistake by relying on him (Haftar).
The Financial Times noted that France was the only European country to acknowledge the support of Haftar, who launched an attack on the capital, Tripoli, with the aim of toppling the United Nations-backed government.
The newspaper pointed out that the pace of the Turkish-French conflict increased due to changing dynamics in Libya after the Turkish intervention (at the request of the Libyan government) and Haftar’s forces received a series of defeats in recent weeks.
“The French have realized Haftar has become a liability and not an asset anymore,” the report said, quoting a high-ranking European diplomat.
“Faced with this mistake, they have to justify it and they blame Turkey,” he added.
The newspaper added that the decision of France and countries such as the UAE to support it for a hole related to protecting their commercial share in the oil sector.
The newspaper reported that the French President, Emmanuel Macron, accusing Turkey of its role in Libya, raised doubts among many European diplomats.
The diplomat added: “Let’s be honest, Turkey stopped the fall of Tripoli. Without their intervention, it would have been a humanitarian disaster.”
The newspaper quoted analysts in foreign policy saying that France supported Haftar because it believed that it was able to control in a custom appropriate to the traditions of African politics after the colonial era, and was surprised by Turkish intervention.
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He stated that France clearly supported Haftar when the attack on Tripoli began, and Tripoli forces, during their control of the Haftar camps, found American-made “Javelin ” missiles that France had bought.
France is completely isolated
Despite Haftar’s strong support from Russia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates, France is striving to secure support for the coup from its allies in NATO and Europe.
The newspaper stated that the rest of the European countries consider Hifter a major obstacle to a political solution in Libya.
The Financial Times singled out space for the statements of Dorothee Schmid, an expert on Middle East affairs at the French Institute of Foreign Affairs, who said that France was completely isolated in this regard.
