Libya Tribune
April 8, 2026
This investigation exposes the financial machinery that underwrote a significant part of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s failed 2019–2020 offensive on Tripoli and documents the subsequent rise of a key enabler of the Haftar family’s kleptocratic activities: Ahmed Gadalla, also known as Ahmed Alushibe or Ahmed al-Aashibi.
Prior to the April 2019 assault, Gadalla utilized a set of companies based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to secure $300 million in loans from the Abu Dhabi-based Arab Bank for Foreign Investment and Trade, commonly known as al-Masraf bank.
These funds, backed by a guarantee deposit from the Libyan Foreign Bank (LFB), were funneled by Gadalla’s companies into the war effort, likely including payments to Russia’s Wagner Group. After Haftar’s offensive collapsed, the loans have remained largely unpaid, leaving the Libyan public to bear the financial burden while Gadalla has faced no accountability.
Super Sleuth
