Libya’s strongman Haftar contracted Israeli lobbying firm to better his image in US

BY Libyan Express Dec 24, 2017 - 19:56 Updated: Dec 25, 2017 - 17:01

Political Adviser to Haftar Mohammed Buisier (Left) and commander of Operation Dignity in east Libya Khalifa Haftar (Right)

The political adviser to the Libyan eastern self-styled army commander Khalifa Haftar, Mohamed Buisier, has lashed out at Haftar accusing him of contracting an Israeli owned lobbying firm in Canada in order to advocate in the US for himself as the Libyan leader in the war on terrorism.

On his Facebook page on Saturday, Buisier posted a statement disowning the information posted by Khalifa Haftar that said he wanted to profit off the “Libyan army” and take advantage of Haftar’s demand for contracting a lobbying firm in the US.

“Haftar posted the fake version of the story, saying I asked him for money for the contract in last April. It is not true, in the real version I did ask him for 400.000 dollars in order to do what he wanted “a non-profit company in the US to better his image in there,” but that was in 2015 in October before the elections of the US.” Buisier explains.

He adds that Haftar is the one who asked him to create the non-profit company in the US and asked him to contact his son in Virginia “Uqbah” for more details.

The political adviser to Haftar added that he wanted to help then to represent his vision on the war on terror in the US, “but that was then, when he had a vision; now he is after personal gains and the US knew that, so I quit,” he indicated.

He also disclosed on his post that Haftar instead contracted a Canadain firm with 6 million dollars to do the lobbying for him, lashing out at Haftar as the owner of the firm is an Israeli man by the name Ari Ben-Menashe .

“It is a shame that an Arab leader would pay money for an Israeli lobbyist to help him rule his country. ” Buisier said in response to Haftar.

“Haftar and his entourage are collapsing and they are going to lose everything as their game is only after personal gains for Haftar and his family. He got no more capabilities.” The political adviser added.

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