The law will impose sanctions on actors supporting mercenaries in Libya and violating the United Nations’ arms embargo. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week formally informed Congress of the sale, hailing the UAE normalization with Israel and casting the sale as part of efforts against mutual adversary Iran. The UAE had long requested the F-35s, which have stealth capacity and can be deployed for precision bombing, intelligence gathering and air-to-air combat. The UAE has been harshly criticized by human rights groups and the U.N. for escalating violence in the war-torn country. Accordingly, a confidential U.N. report in March revealed that two Dubai-based companies have been sending Western mercenaries to support Haftar in his offensive.

Source: Libya Today November 19, 2020 10:30 UTC