Will Haftar and Pakistan's defence deal deepen Libya's divide?

Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar's visit to Islamabad on 2 February, where he was received with formal military honours by Pakistan's army chief, came just weeks after the two sides finalised a defence agreement valued at more than $4 billion, one of Pakistan's largest-ever arms export deals.

Haftar was accompanied on the visit by his son Saddam, widely seen as the leading contender to succeed the 82-year-old commander, and by Osama Saad Hammad, prime minister of the eastern-based parallel government. The delegation also met Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. 

The trip was preceded by a July visit by Saddam Haftar to Islamabad, focused on defence industry cooperation, a build-up that ignores the UN arms embargo imposed on Libya since 2011.

The internationally recognised Government of National Unity (GNU) in Tripoli responded by summoning Pakistan's chargé d'affaires, protesting the reception of what it described as “parallel Libyan delegations”.

The Libyan government called the move “recognition of an illegitimate entity” and said it contradicted Islamabad’s stated position of recognising the GNU as the country’s legitimate executive authority. Officials described the step as a violation of Libyan sovereignty and a breach of relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions.

The fallout laid bare what analysts describe as a legitimacy contest that has overtaken governance as the central preoccupation of Libya's rival authorities. With no elections held since the country's institutional split more than a decade ago, both sides are now courting foreign partners to shore up their claims to power.

The visit and the fallout

"International visits play a pivotal role in shaping the country's fate as a form of recognition," Saleh al-Aish, a Libyan political activist, told The New Arab. “The reception carries particular weight when the host is a militarily significant state like Pakistan.”

He noted that some countries now could view Islamabad's engagement with Haftar as a meaningful step toward broader international acknowledgement.

“Currently, Libya is a two-pole system,” he told The New Arab, “with the balance tipping toward the eastern command while the Dbeibah government gradually loses its popular support."

The situation, however, is multi-layered and has its own complications, with Haftar maintaining close ties with the UAE and providing fuel and weapons to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan.

But this is straining his relationships with Saudi Arabia and Egypt, both of which back the Sudanese Armed Forces, al-Aish says.

“Meanwhile, Pakistan maintains good relations with Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, even though some would argue that it has moved closer to Saudi Arabia following the mutual defence pact signed last year.”

Under the December agreement, signed during Pakistani army chief Asim Munir's visit to Benghazi, Pakistan is to supply 16 JF-17 Thunder multi-role fighter jets, co-developed with China, along with 12 Super Mushshak basic trainer aircraft and other unspecified equipment for air, land, and naval forces. 

The deal includes provisions for training, capacity building, and potential joint manufacturing, with deliveries expected over two and a half years. If fully implemented, the sale would mark the first export of JF-17s to an Arab country and anchor Pakistan within eastern Libya's military orbit.

Turkey, which has close military ties to both Islamabad and the GNU, is watching the situation closely.

Dbeibah’s government, though, is not without its manoeuvres. It has pursued security cooperation with Italy through high-level talks in Tripoli in February 2026, while recent US reengagement features economic delegations to Washington and AFRICOM discussions on force professionalisation. Saudi Arabia has publicly affirmed support for the GNU's stability efforts.

Domestic challenges weigh on the GNU

Yet at home, the GNU’s claim to authority faces growing strain. Persistent delays in elections, factional disputes, and economic pressures have eroded public confidence. 

Tunisian political analyst Belkacem Mohammed, who specialises in Libya, reads the visit through a wider lens. The absence of elections and a final constitutional settlement, he said, keeps the question of legitimacy permanently open. He described Haftar's trip as part of a broader effort to reposition during a period of internal stagnation.

"A presence in regional capitals sends a message to the outside that this actor is indispensable and cannot be bypassed," Belkacem said, "and to the inside that he has a network of relationships that could strengthen his hand in any future settlement." 

He characterised such visits as political tools for rebalancing in a landscape where legitimacy remains, as he put it, "distributed and precarious".

Beyond summoning Pakistan's diplomat, acting foreign minister Taher al-Baour chaired a meeting with Asian ambassadors and stressed that any agreements concluded outside official channels carry no legal standing, a message aimed at prospective partners across Asia as much as at Islamabad. 

Legitimacy up for grabs

A survey by the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) shows strong public backing for national elections in Libya, with 86% of over 1,000 respondents saying they are willing to vote, while more than 60% stressed that elections should only proceed after a binding political agreement among rival factions to accept the results.

Mohammed Yusri, a Libyan political analyst sympathetic to the eastern command, said the controversy around legitimacy is a symptom rather than a cause.

"It is the institutional split that opens the door for competing international readings, not the other way around," Yusri said.

But he cautioned that external engagement from either side of the divide will remain limited in impact without a domestic reckoning. 

"Libya's stability will not be achieved through a fight over external representation," Yusri said. "It requires a national consensus that rebuilds the state on agreed foundations of legitimacy."

He added that the leadership in Benghazi approaches these visits from a pragmatic standpoint, focused on diversifying partnerships and building capacity in areas that have seen relative stability. 

The contest over who speaks for Libya abroad has become inseparable from the contest over who governs at home, and for now, both remain unresolved.

Dania Gamal is a Libyan journalist covering politics and culture

This article is produced in collaboration with Egab

Edited by Charlie Hoyle