Three weeks after Khalifa Haftar, a re-tired general, declared his own "war on terrorism" against Libya's Islamists, he plainly has a long way to go. Although a clutch of disgruntled army and police officers, politicians and tribal militiamen have rallied to him, many other Libyans are still wary. They worry about his alleged ties to the cia, and they fear his ruthlessness. His initial offensive on May 16th, when he and his allies in Benghazi, Libya's second city, attacked Islamist militias, accusing them of being behind a string of recent assassinations, left at least 70 people dead. Since then, another score have been killed. On June 4th, as if to underline the opposition to Mr Haftar, he survived an assassination attempt by a suicide-bomber in Benghazi. At least two of his bodyguards died.
展开▼
