A Libyan Strongman Returns Home and Asserts That He’s Fit

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/27/world/middleeast/libya-hifter-return-hospital.html

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CAIRO — Smiling and looking hale, the Libyan strongman Gen. Khalifa Hifter flew home on Thursday to Benghazi and delivered a spirited televised address, seemingly dispelling for now reports that health problems could imperil his grip on power.

General Hifter’s assured return offered a dramatic counterpoint to the storm of speculation that gripped Libya after he vanished into a Paris hospital for medical treatment more than two weeks ago, setting off rumors that he was gravely ill, incapacitated or even dead.

“I assure you that I am in good health,” said General Hifter, 75, who saluted and shook hands with well-wishers as he walked unaided from his plane. He declined to give further details about any ailments.

His bullish homecoming offered a soap opera-like twist to Libya’s complex power struggle. One of Libya’s most powerful if polarizing figures, General Hifter is a former military officer who served under Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi and a onetime C.I.A. asset who controls most of eastern Libya as well as the country’s largest oil terminals.

He has resisted entreaties to join the United Nations-backed unity government in western Libya, and he has positioned himself as the only leader with the strength to rule Libya, which plunged into chaos after Colonel Qaddafi was ousted in 2011. To achieve that goal, General Hifter has wavered between agreeing to elections and threatening to march on Tripoli, the seat of the unity government.

His mysterious absence in recent weeks, which started when he flew from Jordan to France to treat an undisclosed medical condition, was seized upon by critics who speculated on his possible replacement. He has no obvious successor, and there has been speculation about a possible power struggle whenever he gives up power.

Instead, his return seems to have left him still firmly in control. Waiting for him on the tarmac in Benghazi were senior commanders, lined up in a show of unity intended to scotch rumors of division within his top ranks.

In a television speech after he was seen in video footage walking from his plane, General Hifter dismissed talk of his ill health as “nonsense.” He joked about whether he should stand in order to prove that he did not need a wheelchair.

And he thanked his commanders, saying, “You were unwavering in your steadfastness and determination.”

The questions about his health began with a report in Le Monde and another French news outlet that said he had suffered a serious stroke. Libyan outlets followed with thinly sourced reports saying he was incapacitated or dead.

General Hifter’s aides compounded the confusion with statements that first claimed he was in perfect health, then saying he was in Paris for a “routine checkup.”

As speculation rose, the United Nations envoy to Libya, Ghassan Salamé, said he had spoken to General Hifter by phone — an intervention that drew criticism from Libyans who accused the envoy of meddling in politics by appearing to vouch for General Hifter.

On his way back to Benghazi this week, General Hifter stopped in Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials, who have been staunch allies since he began a military drive for control of Benghazi in 2014.

“The army is as stable as the Green Mountains,” he said on television, referring to the main range in eastern Libya. “No wind can shake it.”