Khalifa Haftar (Arabic: خليفة حفتر, romanized: Ḵalīfa Ḥaftar; born 7 November 1943) is a Libyan politician, military officer, and the commander of the Tobruk-based Libyan National Army (LNA). A prominent officer for the Libyan Arab Republic and its successor, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, from 1969 to 1987, he has been a major figure of the Libyan crisis since 2011. In 2015, he was appointed commander of the armed forces loyal to the elected legislative body, the Libyan House of Representatives. Haftar has been the de facto ruler of the eastern part of Libya since early 2017, governing the region as a military dictatorship under the LNA.
Haftar was born in Ajdabiya. He served in the Libyan Army under Muammar Gaddafi, and took part in the coup that brought Gaddafi to power in 1969. He participated in the Libyan contingent against Israel in the Yom Kippur War of 1973.
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