Pakistan plans Benghazi consulate, lending legitimacy to Libya’s eastern authorities

By Ariba Shahid, Mubasher Bukhari and Saad Sayeed

KARACHI, Feb 3 (Reuters) – Pakistan is in talks to open a consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, three sources with knowledge of the matter said, a move that could give a diplomatic boost to eastern authorities in their rivalry with Libya’s west.

Libya descended into turmoil after a 2011 NATO-backed uprising toppled Muammar Gaddafi and has been divided into eastern and western authorities since a 2014 civil war. The U.N.-recognised government in Tripoli controls the west, while Libyan National Army leader Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s forces based in Benghazi hold the east and south, including major oilfields.

Islamabad would be joining a small group of countries with a diplomatic presence in Benghazi. Haftar discussed the move with officials during an ongoing visit to Pakistan, the sources said. 

Haftar met Pakistan’s army chief on Monday to discuss “professional cooperation” , the Pakistani military said. He was due to sit down with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday, the sources said, declining to be identified because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Pakistan’s prime minister’s office and foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

The LNA’s official media page said Haftar and his son Saddam met senior Pakistani army officials “within the framework of strengthening bilateral relations and opening up broader horizons for coordination in areas of common interest.” It did not give further details and Reuters could not immediately reach eastern Libyan authorities for comment. 

Pakistan’s air force said in a statement that Saddam Khalifa Haftar met Air Chief Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu to discuss expanding defence cooperation, including joint training, with Islamabad reaffirming its support for the “capability development” of the Libyan air force.

Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir visited Benghazi in December, where he signed a multibillion-dollar defence deal with the LNA, previously reported by Reuters. 

All three sources said the decision to open a consulate in Benghazi was linked to the $4 billion defence deal, one of Pakistan’s largest-ever arms sales.

Libya has been under a U.N. arms embargo since 2011, although U.N. experts have said it is ineffective. Pakistani officials involved in the December deal said it did not violate U.N. restrictions.

Haftar has historically been an ally of the UAE, which supported him with air power and viewed him as a bulwark against Islamists, while Pakistan – the only nuclear-armed Muslim-majority nation – signed a wide-ranging mutual defence pact with Saudi Arabia late last year. 

(Reporting by Ariba Shahid and Saad Sayeed in Karachi and Mubasher Bukhari in Lahore; Additional reporting by Alexander Dziadosz in Cairo and Ayman al-Warfalli in Benghazi; Editing by Hugh Lawson)