Egypt and Saudi Arabia have stepped up pressure on Khalifa Haftar over the eastern Libya commander’s role in facilitating Emirati military support to Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), warning that continued assistance could trigger a serious shift in Cairo’s relationship with him.

The pressure forms part of a broader Egyptian-Saudi effort to block flows of arms, fuel and fighters to the RSF, curb the UAE influence across the region and prevent further destabilisation along the sensitive Egypt–Libya–Sudan border triangle.

Earlier this month, Saddam Haftar, Khalifa’s son and deputy commander-in-chief of his Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF), visited Cairo and met Egyptian Defence Minister Abdel Meguid Saker and other senior military and security officials.

Egyptian and Libyan media portrayed the meeting as focused on military cooperation, but the full purpose of the visit was not publicly disclosed.