Saddam Haftar is a Libyan military officer and politician, and the son of Libyan warlord, Khalifa Haftar.
15 Facts About Saddam Haftar
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Saddam Haftar is the commander of the Tariq Ben Zeyad Brigade and holds several other high positions in his father's Libyan National Arab Army.
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Saddam Haftar was born in Benghazi, Libya in 1991, the youngest of seven children of Libyan politician Khalifa Haftar.
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Saddam Haftar is named after the former president of Iraq Saddam Hussein.
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Saddam Haftar established the 106th Brigade as a praetorian guard to protect his father and keep tribal militias under LAAF control, and with this he succeeded in recapturing Benghazi in December 2017.
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In December 2016, Saddam Haftar appeared at a military ceremony in Jordan during the graduation of the students of the Military College, wearing a military uniform.
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Saddam Haftar was granted the ranks of Major and then Lieutenant-Colonel in an exceptional promotion granted to him by the Speaker of the Libyan Parliament, Aguila Saleh.
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Shortly thereafter, Saddam Haftar was promoted to the rank of Colonel, surpassing Gaddafi himself.
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Saddam Haftar was injured during clashes in Tripoli in 2012 following a failed attempt to control the Aman bank.
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Immediately after he recaptured Benghazi in December 2017, Saddam Haftar ordered his men to transfer about 160 million Euros, 639 million Libyan dinars, two million US dollars and 6,000 silver coins from the Central Bank branch in Benghazi to an unknown destination, which has been described as "one of the largest bank heists in history".
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In December 2022, Saddam Haftar attempted to seize control of banking institutions in Cyrenaica.
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On 1 November 2021, Saddam Haftar reportedly visited Tel Aviv for a secret meeting with Israeli officials, allegedly seeking to establish diplomatic relations in return for Israeli "military and diplomatic assistance".
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Later that same month, Saddam Haftar allegedly guaranteed the safety of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and Bashir Saleh to register themselves as president candidates in Sabha.
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Saddam Haftar is seen as the heir apparent of Khalifa Haftar.
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Saddam Haftar was reportedly detained for questioning at an airport in Naples for an hour after his name appeared on a common EU database.