Libya's Khalifa Haftar names son as the head of new ‘Security Units’ of Libyan National Army

Libya's eastern warlord Khalifa Haftar on Monday appointed his son as head of the newly created ‘Security Units’ of the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA).

Brigadier General Khaled Haftar is already the commander of the 106th Brigade, one of the LNA’s strongest outfit, and will now serve as chief-of-staff of the new force.

Under a decree issued by Haftar on 8 July, the 106th Brigade will be brought under the umbrella of the Security Units. The new force will also include the Khalid ibn Al-Walid Brigade, one of the strongest militias loyal to Haftar under the LNA umbrella.

Haftar then named his son as the commander of this combined force, which is effectively only answerable to him.

Haftar was a commander under former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, before defecting and moving to the US. Following the overthrow and death of Gaddafi in 2011, Haftar returned to the scene heading militias in the east of the country that have received backing from the UAE, Russia, and France.

Despite its name, the LNA is not the official armed forces of Libya, although it contains many former units of the Gaddafi-era army.

The LNA is a component of the formerly unified Libyan Armed Forces, which are divided according to loyalty to Haftar and the Tobruk government or loyalty to the UN-recognised Government of National Unity (GNU) in Tripoli.

Haftar’s legacy?

Though the reasons for the creation of the Security Units within the LNA are not immediately apparent, the move could be interpreted as Haftar cementing his family legacy, with his sons all in major positions of power.

His son Saddam has been identified by analysts as the most likely to succeed the 79-year-old, and has been touted as a possible presidential candidate in the east.

The Security Units, via the 106th Brigade, is the most professional of the brigades of the LNA, benefitting from a large amount of advanced foreign weaponry due to Russian and Emirati-backing during the Second Libyan Civil War.

The move also comes as Haftar ramped up rhetoric against the GNU over the perceived unfair distribution of oil revenues by the Tripoli government, with the general once again threatening violence.

In a speech near Benghazi on Monday night, Haftar warned that if a new "higher financial committee" to distribute Libya’s oil was not created, "the armed forces will be ready for orders when the time comes".