Inside the rise of the Haftar family’s Dubai-based 'money man'

Inside the rise of the Haftar family’s Dubai-based 'money man' Submitted by Oscar Rickett on Thu, 05/14/2026 - 07:30 Ahmed Gadalla controls companies in Libya, the UAE, Malta and the UK, and is accused of being a central figure in the Haftars' illicit operations – allegations he denies Saddam Haftar, pictured in 2025, son of eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar, is said to have helped Ahmed Gadalla's rise (Social media) Off He is a Libyan businessman who lives in Dubai and carries a passport issued by the Caribbean island of Saint Kitts and Nevis. According to Italian media reports, he wears $500,000 watches , flies on private jets and stays at five-star hotels in central London. He is said to own at least eight properties in the United Arab Emirates and a $3.7m apartment in Toronto, where he maintains permanent Canadian residency and donates to a prestigious private health foundation.  He controls banks, a state-owned enterprise and private companies in Libya, the UAE, Malta and the UK . But, according to the United Nations'  Panel of Experts  on Libya and a detailed report by US investigative organisation The Sentry , Ahmed Gadalla is a key moneyman for Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF), which controls eastern Libya and is backed by the UAE and Egypt . And now, as the US and its allies push to unify the UN-backed government based in Tripoli with the Haftar family’s Benghazi administration, the 46-year-old is in the spotlight. Active on multiple fronts for at least seven years, Gadalla, who is from Benghazi, is said to have risen with the support of Khalifa's son, Saddam Haftar, and is alleged to be at the heart of a financial network...

Original source: Middle East Eye