Lieutenant General Khaled Haftar, head of the armed forces of eastern Libya and son of Benghazi strongman Khalifa Haftar, visited Greece for consultations at the Ministry of National Defense.

Haftar met with Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias and Chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff Dimitris Choupis.

The Greek side maintained a low profile, issuing no official announcements, noting that Haftar does not represent a recognized state and therefore standard diplomatic protocol did not apply.

The Libyan side said in a statement, “The two sides discussed ways to expand military cooperation between the two countries and strengthen coordination on security and defense issues, contributing to regional stability and achieving the common interests of the Libyan and Greek armed forces.” The statement included photos from Athens.

Khaled Haftar is the second of Haftar’s sons to visit Athens in six weeks, following Belkacem, director of Libya’s Reconstruction and Development Fund.

Khaled is seen as the official controlling the mechanism overseeing southern border security, effectively managing the flow of migrants.

Greece has trained approximately 50 Libyan military personnel at the Naval Deterrence Center (KENAP) in Hania to provide coastal security services and plans to train additional forces in the coming weeks.

However, transferring boats for use by the Benghazi Coast Guard remains complicated due to Libya’s arms embargo, which Greece supports through its participation in Operation IRINI.

Athens has not yet met with Saddam Haftar, head of the Benghazi land forces and designated deputy to his father. Saddam recently visited Ankara, where he was received with full protocol by Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler.

Source: Ekathimerini.com