Pakistan's emergence as a mediator between Libya's rival eastern and western power blocs has drawn sharp criticism, with analysts arguing the initiative is driven by financial desperation rather than any genuine commitment to North African stability. According to a report published in The Times of Israel, Islamabad positioned itself in 2026 as a self-styled peace broker — with the explicit knowledge of Washington and several regional stakeholders — seeking to bridge the divide between the Libyan National Army (LNA) in the east and the Government of National Unity (GNU) in the west.

The Arms Deal at the Heart of the Controversy

The credibility of Pakistan's mediating role is fundamentally undermined, critics argue, by a $4 billion weapons agreement signed between the Pakistan Army and Saddam Haftar, Deputy Commander of the LNA, in Benghazi in December 2025. The deal reportedly encompasses sixteen JF-17 fighter jets, basic trainers, and long-term technical training support.

Amine Ayoub, a policy analyst and writer based in Morocco, wrote in The Times of Israel that Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir personally met with Saddam Haftar to finalise what is described as one of Islamabad's largest-ever military export transactions. Ayoub further noted that the deal moved forward in what he characterised as 'blatant defiance' of the long-standing United Nations arms embargo on Libya.

'That this massive transaction moved forward in blatant defiance of the long-standing United Nations arms embargo highlights the hollow nature of international law when cash and weapons change hands. For Pakistan to now claim the mantle of an objective, neutral arbiter is structurally absurd,' Ayoub wrote.

Western Libya's Hostility and the Double-Game Charge

The arrangement has reportedly triggered 'profound skepticism and open hostility' across western Libya, where political and military factions in Tripoli and Misrata view Islamabad as deeply compromised by its financial and military ties with the Haftar family.

Ayoub argued that a state cannot simultaneously act as a primary arms supplier to one faction in a civil conflict and present itself as an unbiased peace broker to the other. 'The rhetoric of neutrality quickly dissolves when confronted with the physical reality of Pakistani-supplied hardware reinforcing the eastern military apparatus,' he wrote.

Washington's Calculated Use of Islamabad

According to the report, the United States has deliberately incorporated Pakistan into the Libya process as a strategy to manage risks while maintaining plausible deniability. Rather than committing its own personnel or political capital to the complex tasks of militia disarmament and institutional integration, Washington has reportedly delegated these security responsibilities to a Pakistani military establishment described as 'eager to please and desperate for revenue.'

The report characterises Pakistan's role as that of a 'low-cost security subcontractor,' brought in to handle volatile field logistics — collecting weapons and policing rival militias — while primary Western architects remain insulated from direct exposure should the arrangement collapse.

Structural Flaws and Libya's Distant Stability

Ayoub's analysis contends that the entire framework rests on 'the illusion that external enforcement can substitute for domestic legitimacy.' The report argues this model guarantees that Libya's stabilisation remains elusive, sacrificed to meet the financial needs of an economically distressed Pakistan and the geopolitical convenience of a 'detached American foreign policy.'

Libya has remained divided between rival administrations and armed factions since the 2011 fall of Muammar Gaddafi, with multiple internationally backed peace processes having failed to produce durable unification. Pakistan's involvement marks a notable expansion of Islamabad's military-commercial diplomacy into the North Africa theatre — a region where it has historically held no significant strategic footprint.

Whether Islamabad's dual role as arms supplier and peace mediator can be sustained without further eroding trust among Libyan factions and international observers remains to be seen.