Khalifa Belqasim Haftar
| Khalifa Haftar | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Birth name | Khalifa Belqasim Haftar |
| Born |
7 November 1943 Ajdabiya, Libya |
| Service/branch |
 Libyan Ground Forces
|
| Rank | Field marshal |
| Battles/wars |
Yom Kippur War (1973) |
Yom Kippur War (1973)
Chadian–Libyan conflict (1978–1987)
First Libyan Civil War
Khalifa Belqasim Haftar (Arabic: خليفة بلقاسم حفتر; born 7 November 1943) is a Libyan marshal and the principal commander of one side in the ongoing Second Libyan Civil War. On March 2, 2015, he was appointed commander of the armed forces loyal to the elected, internationally backed government, the Council of Deputies.
Haftar was born in eastern Libya. He served in the Libyan army under Muammar Gaddafi, and took part in the coup that brought Gaddafi to power in 1969. He commanded the Libyan contingent against Israel in the Yom Kippur War of 1973. In 1987, he became a prisoner of war during the war against Chad. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Gaddafi. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining U.S. citizenship. Haftar lived comfortably in Virginia, relatively close to CIA headquarters, from the early 1990s until 2011. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death.
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