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Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias welcomes Libya's rogue general and warlord Khalifa Haftar outside a hotel in Athens, Greece, January 16, 2020. (Reuters)
Libyan National Army Gen. Khalifa Haftar secretly flew to Athens on Thursday for talks as Greece criticized its exclusion from a UN-backed peace conference in Berlin this weekend.
Greece was not invited to take part in Berlin negotiations despite its stated interest, and Athens was angered by the Tripoli government signing a maritime and military cooperation deal with Turkey.
In a surprise move, Haftar flew to Athens by private plane on Thursday for meetings not previously announced by the Greek government.
He was taken to a luxury Athens hotel where he was met by Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias for an initial round of talks, TV footage showed.
Dendias will see Haftar again on Friday at the Foreign Ministry, and the Libyan warlord is also expected to meet with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis later in the day, sources familiar with the issue told AFP news agency.
Greece has sought a more active role in Libya after the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli signed a maritime and military cooperation memorandum with Turkey in November.
Mitsotakis said on Thursday it was “wrong” to exclude Greece from the Berlin talks and that he would talk to German Chancellor Angela Merkel about it on Friday.
Source(s): Reuters
