Lt. General Khaled Haftar, chief of staff of the Libyan armed forces, started Monday an official visit to Morocco, a trip that is making the Algerian regime extremely worried about the fallout of the rapprochement between Rabat and Benghazi-based Libyan authorities.
The news reported by the Libyan News Agency was confirmed by the Royal Armed Forces (FAR) which said that General Khalid Haftar, Chief of Staff of the Libyan Armed Forces, is leading a high-level military delegation on a working visit to Morocco, which will last until October 15, 2026.
During his visit, General Haftar met with General Mohammed Berrid, Inspector General of the Royal Armed Forces (FAR) and Commander of the Southern Zone, at the FAR General Headquarters in Rabat.
Addressing Moroccan military leaders, Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s son praised Morocco’s regional and international standing, as well as its development under the leadership of King Mohammed VI. He expressed deep gratitude for the warm reception and emphasized the strong bonds between the two nations, voicing hope for enhanced bilateral cooperation and joint military initiatives.
The two parties discussed ways of strengthening military coordination and joint action to serve the common interests of the two brotherly countries, said the Libyan news agency.
Khaled Haftar’s visit comes in the context of previous military communications between Morocco and the General Command in eastern Libya. Haftar had previously met with the Inspector General of the Royal Armed Forces on the sidelines of a military conference in Angola last July. This is the first high-level official visit by a military official from eastern Libya to Rabat.
Morocco has a long history of mediation efforts in Libya, having hosted negotiations that led to the Skhirat Agreement in 2015, as well as subsequent meetings between Libyan parties, notably between the High Council of State in the west and the Tobruk-based parliament in the east.
According to some analysts, the visit of General Khaled Haftar to Morocco may signal a shift in Rabat’s stand in the Libyan conflict. The move sends message of support for Eastern Libya against the western-based government led by Abdelhamid Dbeibah, an ally of Algeria.
Relations between Rabat and Tripoli remain strained. In December 2024, the government of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah protested against a consultative meeting held in Morocco between Libya’s House of Representatives and High Council of State.
The same year, Mohamed Younis al-Menfi, President of the so-called Presidential Council of the State of Libya had met with the Polisario leader in Algiers, showing the true face of the Tripoli-based government.
Furthermore, the Dbeibah’s government announced lately its candidacy for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council for 2027-2028 term although Morocco had already announced its intention to submit its candidacy for the UN Security Council and had secured the Arab League’s support during the summit convened in Baghdad in May 2025.