WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th February, 2020) US Senator Chris Murphy on Wednesday sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in which he raised the possibility of sanctioning Libyan National Army leader Khalifa Haftar over his alleged cooperation with the Russian private military company Wagner.
"I write you today to inquire about ties between the Libyan National Army leader Khalifa Haftar and the PMC Wagner (also known as the Wagner Group), and whether those ties could trigger mandatory CAATSA sanctions," the letter said referring to the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act.
Murphy noted the State Department added PMC Wagner to the list of entities subject to CAATSA sanctions on September 20, 2018.
US officials accuse PMC Wagner of deploying hundreds of mercenaries in Libya equipped with heavy weapons in support of Haftar's military operations against the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA).
LNA is believed to control about 75 percent of Libyan territory primarily in the east of the country and the GNA is holding the rest of the territory, including the capital Tripoli, in the west of Libya.
Murphy said he expects the State Department to provide a comprehensive summary of US diplomatic efforts to counter Russian influence in Libya and a detailed analysis on the relationship between Haftar and PMC Wagner.
Testifying on Wednesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Robinson said the State Department would prefer to encourage Haftar's ongoing participation and further steps in the UN-led peace process.
"Right now Haftar is participating as a member of 5+5, mil-to-mil [military-to-military] committee, cooperating with the United Nations. We want to encourage this. We are hoping that he goes the next step in these talks, which are the political talks," Robinson said. "I can't get into the internal deliberations of what we are talking about designating him or not."
In January, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that even if Russian citizens may be fighting in Libya, they do not represent the Russian government.
