18 Jan 2019; MEMO: A Greek opposition party leader has likened Libya’s renegade commander Khalifa Haftar to former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, a convicted war criminal.
This came after Haftar visited Athens on Friday and met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias.
“Athens today hosted Libyan warlord Haftar. An own goal for Greek diplomacy- similar to that in the 90s when the gvt led by Mitsotakis-snr embraced Karadžić. How did we get here? It all began with the Tsipras-Netanyahu-Exxon unholy alliance to drill for oil & gas in the E. Med,” Yanis Varoufakis, who is a former finance minister, wrote on Twitter.
Mitsotakis’ father, Konstantinos Mitsotakis, was also prime minister in the early 90s, when Karadzic visited Greece.
A UN tribunal at The Hague last year convicted Karadzic for genocide, crimes against humanity and violating the laws and customs of war during 1992-1995 Bosnian War and sentenced him to life in prison.
Since the ouster of late leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, two seats of power have emerged in Libya: one in eastern Libya supported mainly by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates and the other in Tripoli, which enjoys UN and international recognition.
