How the Kremlin's fingerprints escalated Libya’s conflict, threatening a wider war in the Middle Eas

[TomSea]

How the Kremlin's fingerprints escalated Libya’s conflict, threatening a wider war in the Middle East
Sudarsan Raghavan

 Now, the conflict in Libya, more than ever, is being driven by the Middle East’s latest divide, pitting the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Saudi Arabia against Turkey and Qatar. Over the past four months, Turkey, Egypt and the UAE have deepened their involvement, militarily and rhetorically, laying bare the region’s rivalries and animosities.

 The United States, after years of neglecting Libya, is scrambling now to find a way to blunt the Kremlin’s reach. But in the absence of strong U.S. diplomacy and policies, Russia and Turkey appear poised to exploit the security and diplomatic vacuum and control the fate of Libya, as they have done in Syria.

More than 1,000 Russian mercenaries are said to be operating in Libya, according to U.S. and Western officials, as well as top Libyan commanders. Most work for the Wagner Group, a shadowy private army linked to the Kremlin and Russian President Vladimir Putin. It has also fought in Syria, Ukraine and other nations that Moscow considers strategic to its interests.

Read more at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/how-the-kremlins-fingerprints-escalated-libyas-conflict-threatening-a-wider-war-in-the-middle-east/2019/12/20/b2f63a5c-2040-11ea-b034-de7dc2b5199b_story.html