US envoy to visit Libya, where conflict is quickly complicating

US envoy Massad Boulos, President Trump’s senior advisor to Africa, is making his first visit to Libya next week despite conflict and tension escalating in Tripoli and concerns over civil war in the bordering nation of Sudan, according to the Middle East Eye on June 12th.

Boulos is expected to visit the capital city of Tripoli first, where the government is recognised by the United Nations and backed by Turkey.

NATO’s removal of Libya’s long standing leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 led to civil war which is now a proxy conflict. The commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), General Khalifa Haftar, has advanced into Tripoli and is backed by Russia, the UAE, Egypt, and France.

The fight for power in Tripoli involves not just between the government and Haftar’s forces, there are rival armed militias clashing in the city. Despite calls for a ceasefire on May 12th, at least 8 people have been killed over the month of May after the leader of one of these rival militias was killed.

Haftar’s son Saddam is likely to take over from his father as general, according to the Middle East Eye. Saddam is popular with President Trump’s administration and in national security circles- in April he had a high-profile meeting with senior US intelligence officials in Washington.

Whether US envoy Boulos will meet with Saddam or his father the General on this trip is not clear.

Saddam has been canvassing support by visiting countries including Qatar, Turkey and Italy who traditionally have backed the government in Tripoli. President Trump however, has backed Haftar since his first term, when in 2019 he implied approval for Haftar’s bid to take over Tripoli, which failed.

The current government in Tripoli is led by President Dbeibah, who was appointed in 2021 with a mandate to hold elections in Libya, elections which never took place. This had led to frequent protests against the President.

Boulos has been in discussions with the top advisor to President Dbeibah, concerning the potential unlocking of billions of dollars in sanctioned frozen wealth funds, and they discussed using some of these funds to invest in US companies in Libya.

In return for unlocking these funds, Trump’s administration has pressed the Libyan government to accept up to 1 million Palestinians from Gaza, which has strained the relationship between the US and Egypt. President Trump has proposed the relocation of Gaza citizens multiple times, including suggesting relocation of refugees to the conflict stricken Sudan. 

Sudan, which shares a border with Libya, has been in civil war since 2023. External powers are not in the agreement over who they are supporting in these wars. Although Egypt and the UAE both back Haftar in Libya, they are supporting opposing sides in Sudan’s civil war.

Along with Iran and Turkey, Egypt is backing Sudan’s army whilst the UAE is backing the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which Haftar has facilitated the shipment of arms to.

Relations between Haftar and Egypt are becoming more strained, after Haftar launched a cross-border attack with the RSF, which is the first instance of direct Libyan involvement in the Sudan conflict.

Egyptian officials want Boulos to negotiate and make progress on preventing a spillover of the conflicts in Libya and Sudan, but his limited influence and the convoluted conflicted interests in both conflicts will make this near impossible to carry out, especially on his first trip to Libya.

According to the Middle East Eye, expectations for Boulos’ trip are low.

As well as Tripoli, Boulos will visit the city of Benghazi, which is controlled by a parallel government backed by Haftar and his sons.

Boulos was supposed to travel to Libya earlier this year, but Egyptian officials wanted Cairo to be visited first by the US envoy.

Middle East Eye/Maghrebi