{"id":22580,"date":"2026-09-29T15:37:26","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T15:37:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/29\/saddam-haftar-secretly-met-netanyahu-in-abu-dhabi-greek-city-times\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T15:37:26","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T15:37:26","slug":"saddam-haftar-secretly-met-netanyahu-in-abu-dhabi-greek-city-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/29\/saddam-haftar-secretly-met-netanyahu-in-abu-dhabi-greek-city-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Saddam Haftar Secretly Met Netanyahu in Abu Dhabi \u2013 Greek City Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-first=\"S\">\n<h3 id=\"h-italian-newspaper-il-foglio-reports-that-saddam-haftar-deputy-commander-of-forces-in-eastern-libya-and-son-of-khalifa-haftar-held-a-secret-meeting-with-israeli-prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahu-during-netanyahu-s-visit-to-the-united-arab-emirates\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Italian newspaper <em>Il Foglio<\/em> reports that <strong>Saddam Haftar<\/strong>, deputy commander of forces in eastern Libya and son of Khalifa Haftar, held a <strong>secret meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/strong> during Netanyahu\u2019s visit to the <strong>United Arab Emirates<\/strong>.<\/h3>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/greekcitytimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/173663.webp 729w,https:\/\/greekcitytimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/173663-182x300.webp 182w,https:\/\/greekcitytimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/173663-622x1024.webp 622w,https:\/\/greekcitytimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/173663-450x740.webp 450w, https:\/\/greekcitytimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/173663-20x33.jpg 20w,https:\/\/greekcitytimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/173663-225x370.webp 225w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 729px) 100vw, 729px\" type=\"image\/webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/greekcitytimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/173663.jpg\" height=\"1200\" width=\"729\" srcset=\"https:\/\/greekcitytimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/173663.jpg 729w, https:\/\/greekcitytimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/173663-182x300.jpg 182w, https:\/\/greekcitytimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/173663-622x1024.jpg 622w, https:\/\/greekcitytimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/173663-450x740.jpg 450w, https:\/\/greekcitytimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/173663-20x33.jpg 20w, https:\/\/greekcitytimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/173663-225x370.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 729px) 100vw, 729px\" class=\"wp-image-603546 sp-no-webp\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\"\/> <\/source><\/picture><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Israel, Libya and the UAE have not confirmed the encounter.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-what-il-foglio-says-happened\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Il Foglio says happened<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Il Foglio<\/em> says flight-tracking data showed the aircraft usually used by Saddam Haftar \u2014 an Airbus A319, registration <strong>P4-KH5I9<\/strong> \u2014 landing at <strong>Al Bateen airport in Abu Dhabi at 12:40<\/strong>, about <strong>20 minutes after Netanyahu arrived<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A Libyan source close to the Haftar family told the paper the meeting took place. Former Khalifa Haftar adviser <strong>Mohamed Buisier<\/strong> said Saddam met Netanyahu to seek political support for a Libyan presidential bid.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-what-has-been-officially-confirmed\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">What has been officially confirmed<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Netanyahu did visit Abu Dhabi and meet <strong>UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed<\/strong>. Israel and the UAE later confirmed that meeting and described talks on bilateral relations and regional issues.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those official statements do <strong>not<\/strong> mention Saddam Haftar or any Libyan delegation.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-why-the-report-matters\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why the report matters<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Saddam Haftar has previously been linked to discreet contacts with Israel, including a 2021 report that one of his aircraft landed at Ben Gurion Airport.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Il Foglio<\/em> frames the alleged Abu Dhabi stop as part of a wider effort by Haftar to court Israel and the United States \u2014 including planned or sought meetings with U.S. Vice President <strong>J.D. Vance<\/strong> after earlier talks with Secretary of State <strong>Marco Rubio<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<footer class=\"article-tags entry-footer\">\n<\/footer>\n<div class=\"category_container author-information\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<section id=\"authorpage\" class=\"authorpage\">\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/99ca06517608e7af44e9761bf7c358974ffbc4a43859fd8e5be6fc2f50d341af?s=164&amp;r=g\" srcset=\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/99ca06517608e7af44e9761bf7c358974ffbc4a43859fd8e5be6fc2f50d341af?s=328&amp;r=g 2x\" class=\"avatar avatar-164 photo lazyload\" height=\"164\" width=\"164\" decoding=\"async\"\/>\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"author-content\">\n<h5>Bill Giannopoulos<\/h5>\n<h4>Junior Editor<\/h4>\n<p>Bill Giannopoulos is a Junior Editor at Greek City Times, covering Greek and international news, sport, and history.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/greekcitytimes.gr\" class=\"boxed-icon fill\" target=\"_blank\"><i class=\"fa-solid fa-link\"\/><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/greekcitytimes.com\/2026\/09\/29\/il-foglio-saddam-haftar-secretly-met-netanyahu-in-abu-dhabi\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Italian newspaper Il Foglio reports that Saddam Haftar, deputy commander of forces in eastern Libya and son of Khalifa Haftar, held a secret meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during Netanyahu\u2019s visit to the United Arab Emirates. Israel, Libya and the UAE have not confirmed the encounter. What Il Foglio says happened Il Foglio &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"Saddam Haftar Secretly Met Netanyahu in Abu Dhabi \u2013 Greek City Times\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/29\/saddam-haftar-secretly-met-netanyahu-in-abu-dhabi-greek-city-times\/#more-22580\" aria-label=\"Read more about Saddam Haftar Secretly Met Netanyahu in Abu Dhabi \u2013 Greek City Times\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22581,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/greekcitytimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3-9_upscale-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22580\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}