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| - France, accused of discreetly taking sides in war-torn Libya, is seeking to retain its influence as Paris warns the conflict could turn into a proxy fight between feuding regional powers as in Syria. Despite official denials, France has long been suspected by analysts and even allies of favouring the secular strongman of Libya's east, commander Khalifa Haftar, in the conflict with the UN-recognised government in Tripoli. France has always been eager to have influence in Libya due to its own colonial heritage in North Africa, with a keen eye on the country's rich energy reserves. Paris also would prefer not see a Muslim Brotherhood-style Islamist government take root in Tripoli. But it is also wary of any surge in jihadist militancy in Libya that could seep over the border and endanger its 5,000-strong Barkhane force deployed in an anti-terror operation in the neighbouring states of the Sahel region to the south. "France is worried," said a senior French official, requesting anonymity. "Libya could become a new land of jihad and there are big interests at stake," the official told AFP. The Libya conflict -- just as in Syria's civil war -- has split regional powers. Egypt, Russia and the United Arab Emirates have backed the staunchly secular Haftar. But Turkey and its main ally Qatar have strongly supported the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) under Fayez al-Sarraj. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told a Senate hearing last week that he feared a "Syrianisation" of the conflict which would see regional powers back opposing sides in a growing and intractable proxy war. He accused Turkey of directing "several thousand" pro-Ankara Syrian fighters to wage conflict in Libya, adding Russia was also sending in Syrians "but on a smaller scale". A French presidential official, who also asked not to be named, said there was a "risk that the crisis now collectively escapes us" due to the Russian and Turkish interventions. The official said Paris feared a "worst case scenario" where Russia and Turkey make an agreement between themselves "on their own conditions". This would be a replay of the situation in Syria since 2016, where Turkey and Russia teamed up in a shaky but enduring alliance despite being on opposite sides of the conflict. "We see the significant risk of a fait accompli on Europe's borders," added the official. Pascal Ausseur, a retired French admiral who is director of the Mediterranean Foundation for Strategic Studies (FMES) told AFP that France's main fear is that "the involvement of external actors is such that we are no longer even asked for our opinion." "The more there are significant actors on the ground with militias, planes and anti-aircraft missile batteries, and even ground forces, the less influence France has," he added. Russia has been accused of using the Wagner mercenary company -- reportedly run by an ally of President Vladimir Putin -- to fight in Libya, while Turkey has with considerable success increasingly helped the GNA with Turkish-produced drones. The pro-Haftar Libyan National Army (LNA) has suffered a series of military defeats in recent weeks, prompting speculation over whether France could change its strategy. The GNA said Thursday that it had regained full control of Tripoli and its suburbs after more than a year of fighting against Haftar. Le Drian spoke to Sarraj at the weekend, in the first official communication between Paris and Tripoli in months. The warring parties this week agreed to restart talks aimed at reaching a lasting ceasefire in a country mired by chaos since the fall of Moamer Kadhafi in 2011. But past attempts have always faltered. "As Haftar's position weakens... France is hedging its bets and trying to balance ties with the LNA and the GNA," said Samuel Ramani, doctoral candidate at the University of Oxford's Department of Politics and International Relations. He said France sees its aims of restoring stability in Libya "best achieved by the consolidation of power by a strongman like Haftar." James Dorsey, senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, said it made sense for France to continue backing Haftar. "Haftar's issue is not so much his military performance The issue is, he is just a very stubborn guy." dla-sjw/mlr/ach
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