Eastern Libyan leader Khalifa Haftar has been receiving care in a hospital in Paris, leading to concerns that his absence could increase instability in the region. Haftar returned to Libya from exile in 2011, after an uprising resulted in the death of dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Haftar is from eastern Libya, where he set up a base of power as the country fell into civil conflict. Chaos in eastern Libya and the rise of extremist groups led to the murder of US ambassador Christopher Stevens in 2012. In 2014, Haftar launched a series of military operations to uproot Islamist extremist groups in eastern Libya, removing them from Benghazi and securing the border with Egypt.

Source: The North Africa Journal April 22, 2018 11:48 UTC