Russian private security firm admits it had armed men in East Libya
A force of several dozen armed private security contractors from Russia continues to opeare in a part of Libya that is under the control of regional leader Khalifa Haftar, the head of the firm that hired the contractors told Reuters.
It is the clearest signal to date that Moscow is prepared to back up its public diplomatic support for Haftar -- even at the risk of alarming Western governments already irked at Russia's intervention in Syria to prop up President Bashar al-Assad.
Haftar is opposed to a U.N.-backed government which Western states see as the best chance of restoring stability in Libya. But some Russian policy-makers see the Libyan as a strongman who can end the six years of anarchy that followed the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi.
The presence of the military contractors was, according to the head of the firm, a commercial arrangement. It is unlikely though to have been possible without Moscow's approval, according to people who work in the industry in Russia.
Oleg Krinitsyn, owner of private Russian firm RSB-group, said he sent the contractors to eastern Libya, yet declined to say who hired his firm to provide the contractors, where they were operating or what the industrial facility was. He did not say if the operation had been approved by the U.N.-backed government, which most states view as the sovereign ruler of Libya.
The contractors did not take part in combat, Krinitsyn said, but they were armed with weapons they obtained in Libya. He declined to specify what type of weapons. A U.N. arms embargo prohibits the import of weapons to Libya unless it is under the control of the U.N.-backed government.
Krinitsyn said his contractors were ready to strike back in case of an attack. "If we're under assault we enter the battle, of course, to protect our lives and the lives of our clients," Krinitsyn said. "According to military science, a counterattack must follow an attack. That means we would have to destroy the enemy.”
He declined to say how many contractors were involved in the mission in Libya, citing commercial secrecy.
Haftar has been seeking outside help to consolidate his control over parts of Libya. Russia has shown a willingness to engage with him that contrasts with the more cautious approach of Western governments.
Haftar visited Moscow several times in last months, and met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Haftar also went on board a Russian aircraft carrier off the Libyan coast and spoke with the Russian defence minister via videolink. In recent weeks, Russia has taken in 100 of Haftar's wounded fighters for medical treatment.
President Vladimir Putin, newly confident from the Russian military intervention in Syria, is anxious to restore stability in Libya. But foreign diplomats familiar with Russian thinking say there is so far no consensus on how to achieve that.
They say the foreign ministry wants Haftar to join forces with the U.N.-backed government. But the diplomats say there is a more hawkish camp, centred on the Russian defence ministry and some people in the Kremlin, which favours backing Haftar to establish control over the whole of Libya.
