The Pentagon has said that the UAE is funding Russian mercenaries to fight the US-backed government of Libya as the Trump administration prepares to sell the Gulf state $23 billion of weapons.
President Trump is attempting to rush through the proposed arms sale to Abu Dhabi, including F-35 fighter jets and armed Reaper drones, before he leaves office.
Mohammed bin Zayed, the UAE de facto leader, aims to blunt the influence of Islamists
DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
A report by the Pentagon’s inspector general, however, determines that the UAE is the main financial backer of Wagner, the Russian mercenary group in Libya, as its agents fight against the internationally recognised government in Tripoli, in the first official public linking of the two.
One US diplomat said that it amounted to a warning to the UAE over their aggressive role in a conflict, which
