Turkey found common cause with the GNA as both had close ties to the Brotherhood. Russia also joined the fray, as part of a broader effort to challenge Western interests in weak Arab states. At first Moscow kept contacts with both sides while promoting Qaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, as a future president. In 2019, however, it also threw its weight behind Haftar. More than 1,000 mercenaries with the Wagner group, which is headed by a confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin, entered Libya to support the general.

Source: Libya Today January 12, 2022 10:04 UTC