Libya’s Premier debunks reports about meeting with Israeli foreign spy chief in Jordan

Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh has denied recent reports from Israel, Saudi Arabia alleging he recently met with Israeli Mossad Director David Barnea in Jordan to discuss normalization and security cooperation, Update Libya reports.

The Jerusalem Post, citing reports from Saudi Arabia and Libya, revealed the alleged secret meeting.

“That didn’t happen and won’t happen in the future, our stance is firm and clear on the Palestinian cause,” according to a Libyan government statement released Wednesday.

Dbeibah is not the first Libyan figure reported to have met with Israeli officials.

Saddam Haftar, the son of the warlord and strongman of the east, Khalifa Haftar, reportedly visited Israel last year late in December for a secret meeting with Israeli officials in which he offered to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries in return for Israeli support.

Saddam carried a message from his father requesting Israeli “military and diplomatic assistance” in return for a pledge to establish a normalization process between Libya and Israel akin to the Abraham Accords establishing relations between the Jewish state and United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco, Times of Israel reported.

Both Khalifa Haftar and Dbeibeh were candidates for the botched Dec. 24 presidential election in the oil-rich country.