Libya’s Haftar Meets Putin in Moscow for First Time

Libyan National Army commander Khalifa Haftar. (AP)
Libyan National Army commander Khalifa Haftar. (AP)
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Libya’s Haftar Meets Putin in Moscow for First Time

Libyan National Army commander Khalifa Haftar. (AP)
Libyan National Army commander Khalifa Haftar. (AP)

Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Khalifa Haftar held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday in what was the first official and declared meeting between them.

Libyan sources close to Haftar said he sought to convince Putin to help lift the embargo that as been imposed on the LNA by the United Nations Security Council.

They also discussed Russian assistance in developing the LNA’s weapons, they added.

Haftar had arrived in the Russian capital on Thursday.

The pro-LNA Libyan news agency quoted a source from Haftar’s office as saying that the trip was a routine visit that falls within the ongoing coordination between Libya and Russia on counter-terrorism.

Haftar had paid several visits to Russia in the past where he met with senior officials at the defense and foreign ministries.

Separately, the LNA denied reports of the death of one of Haftar’s sons, Khaled, during the battle to liberate Tripoli from terrorist and criminal gangs that are affiliated with the Government of National Accord (GNA).

It said that the claim was a rumor circulated by the Muslim Brotherhood press.

Activists also alleged Khaled’s death, saying he was killed in Turkish drone attacks on Gharyan city, some 80 kms south of the capital.

Khaled leads the 106 brigade. He has appeared in footage several times since the launch of the operation against Tripoli on April 4.

Meanwhile, Fayez al-Sarraj’s GNA was still banking on a shift in stance by US President Donald Trump on the Libyan crisis.

GNA media hailed a letter sent by four US congressmen that calls on Trump to demand a ceasefire in Libya. The congressmen expressed their concern over Haftar’s operation, warning it may ignite a more violent civil war.

Near the eastern city of Benghazi, meanwhile, the head of Libya’s oil workers’ labor union, Saad Dinar, was released on Thursday after being held by eastern security authorities for almost a month, a relative said.

Earlier in the day, Dinar said on his Facebook page that he was let go after what he described as “routine interrogation.”

The Tripoli-based Libyan state oil firm NOC called a week ago for Dinar’s release.



Netanyahu Aide Faces Indictment over Gaza Leak

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaks to reporters before a meeting with lawmakers at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaks to reporters before a meeting with lawmakers at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
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Netanyahu Aide Faces Indictment over Gaza Leak

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaks to reporters before a meeting with lawmakers at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaks to reporters before a meeting with lawmakers at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

An aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces indictment on security charges pending a hearing, Israel's attorney general has said, for allegedly leaking top secret military information during Israel's war in Gaza.

Netanyahu's close adviser, Jonatan Urich, has denied any wrongdoing in the case, which legal authorities began investigating in late 2024.

Netanyahu has described probes against Urich and other aides as politically motivated and on Monday said that Urich had not harmed state security. Urich's attorneys said the charges were baseless and that their client's innocence would be proven beyond doubt, reported Reuters.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said in a statement late on Sunday that Urich and another aide had extracted secret information from the Israeli military and leaked it to German newspaper Bild.

Their intent, she said, was to shape public opinion of Netanyahu and influence the discourse about the slaying of six Israeli hostages by their Palestinian captors in Gaza in late August 2024.

The hostages' deaths sparked mass protests in Israel and outraged hostages' families, who accused Netanyahu of torpedoing ceasefire talks that had faltered in the preceding weeks for political reasons.

Netanyahu vehemently denies this. He has repeatedly said that Hamas was to blame for the talks collapsing, while the group has said it was Israel's fault no deal had been reached.

Four of the six slain hostages had been on the list of more than 30 captives that Hamas was set to free if a ceasefire had been reached, according to a defense official at the time.

The Bild article in question was published days after the hostages were found executed in a Hamas tunnel in southern Gaza. It outlined Hamas' negotiation strategy in the indirect ceasefire talks and largely corresponded with Netanyahu's allegations against the militant group over the deadlock.

Bild said after the investigation was announced that it does not comment on its sources and that its article relied on authentic documents. The newspaper did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

A two-month ceasefire was reached in January this year and included the release of 38 hostages before Israel resumed attacks in Gaza. The sides are presently engaged in indirect negotiations in Doha, aimed at reaching another truce.

In his statement on Monday, Netanyahu said Baharav-Miara's announcement was "appalling" and that its timing raised serious questions.

Netanyahu's government has for months been seeking the dismissal of Baharav-Miara. The attorney general, appointed by the previous government, has sparred with Netanyahu's cabinet over the legality of some of its policies.