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Zimbabwe's vice president Constantino Chiwenga on Tuesday flew to Togo on a private jet linked to Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar, a renegade military commander who now controls the eastern and some southern parts of the north African country.

The San Marino-registered Gulfstream G450 (T7-LJA) flew into Harare from Dubai on August 22, according to flight data from FlightRadar24. Chiwenga, who doubles up as health minister, was onboard when it took off to the Togolese capital Lome for a United Nations health summit for African countries a day later.

The Gulfstream, described by aviation experts as "often operating for" Haftar and his Libyan National Army, previously flew to Zimbabwe from Libya on April 21 this year, leaving for Dubai in the United Arab Emirates a day later and onward to Switzerland on April 23.

The same aircraft was again in Harare on June 11 after taking off from Beida Al Abraq International Airport in Libya. It headed to Dubai two days later.

The Gulfstream also flew from Dubai to Harare on July 7, returning to the UAE a day later from where it flew to Kozhikode Calicut International Airport in India.

The 14-seater aircraft with a cruising altitude of 45,000 feet and a cruising speed of 885km/hr has been operated by the Dubai-based SkyMark Executive since April 2021. It costs around US$20,000 per flying hour, although terms of Chiwenga's charter for the five-hour, one-way trip to Lome are unknown.Comfy Inside the luxury jet which flew vice president Constantino Chiwenga to Togo

The Zimbabwe government refuses to say how the private jets are hired. President Emmerson Mnangagwa previously claimed his travel was financed by the government of the United Arab Emirates.

In 2020, the United States and Libyan authorities said they were investigating Haftar for suspected gold-for-cash trades with Venezuela, carried out using private jets, to undermine sanctions against the government of Nicols Maduro.

Haftar, the officials said, preferred to keep his assets in gold over fears "his accounts could be frozen if he comes under sanctions."

At the time, officials said they were tracking Haftar-connected private jets suspected of carrying gold between the South American country and West Africa, which then went to Europe mainly Switzerland and the Middle East.

Haftar heads the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) and waged war on western factions after the country split in 2014, including a 14-month offensive to take Tripoli that was repelled after devastating areas of the capital.

A former senior military commander under Muammar Gaddafi before defecting to the United States where he sought asylum, Haftar who has support from the United Arab Emirates and Egypt reportedly works with the Wagner Group in Africa, a group of Russian mercenaries, to topple the government in Tripoli which is recognised by western countries.

It remains unclear what link Chiwenga, a former army general, has with Haftar if any.

Zimbabwe's late former President Robert Mugabe's foreign trips were the lifeblood of the struggling national airline, Air Zimbabwe. His predecessor, Emmerson Mnangagwa, rarely uses the national carrier's aged aircraft.

Since assuming power in a 2017 military coup, Mnangagwa, 79, has regularly used Dubai-registered private jets for most of his foreign and domestic trips including summoning an Airbus A318-112 (CJ) Elite from Dubai to fly him the 275km trip to Gweru from Harare in July 2019.

Responding to a ZimLive story at the time, Mnangagwa insisted that "we do not pay anything for that plane."

He claimed that during a meeting with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed, "I told him we had a problem with availability of planes and he said whenever I want to travel, all I need to do is call."

Mnangagwa has also flown on a luxuriously-fitted Airbus A319-115 (CJ) owned by the Azerbaijan government, notably to a United Nations summit in Scotland, United Kingdom, in November 2021.

The Zimbabwe leader's willingness to accept gifts from foreign governments, as he publicly claims, has raised fears he is involved in some opaque transactions benefitting his benefactors.

Critics claim that the Dubai-registered jets flying into Harare are in fact a conduit for delivering scarce United States dollars to the regime, and then smuggling gold out, made easy by the United Arab Emirates' dubious no-questions-asked gold policy.

In 2016, the UAE reported gold imports from Africa topping US$16 billion. That same year, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) noted that the UAE which is not a gold producer ranked third globally in terms of gold exports, with a total value of US$25.4 billion, or 7.8 percent of total world exports.

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Chiwenga flies to Togo on luxury jet linked to Libyan strongman - Bulawayo24 News

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Karanfil Group, Murtaza Karanfil, said that they intend to expand their sea travel routes to Libya from Istanbul to Benghazi and Misrata at the same time.

In a statement issued by the Turkish Trade Group, Karanfil stressed the importance of trade exchange with Libya, which he said was a trade exchange with the African continent at the same time.

He added that, given the geostrategic location that Libya enjoys, it is the world's gateway to Africa and Africa's gateway to the world, indicating that he was happy for the resumption of sea travel voyages between Istanbul and Misrata after a 25-year hiatus.

He stressed that this step would contribute to establishing close trade ties with other African countries.

Regarding the details of the cruises between the two countries, "Kronfel" said that they operate (4) trips per month via ships with a total capacity of (900) passenger beds, (400) cars and (1,700) tons of cargo.

Karanfil said that their group was contributing to establishing commercial links between 26.000 Turkish companies and 120,000 Libyan clients.

Karanfil also revealed that the volume of trade exchange between Turkey and Libya amounted to 3.6 billion dollars, despite the ongoing instability in Libya.

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Karanfil says sea travel from Turkey to Libya will expand to Benghazi - The Libya Observer

The Libyan Air Ambulance flight with three injured Libyans on board landed on Thursday at the Italian military airport of Pisa, announced the Italian Foreign Ministry.

All three are victims of the deadly fuel tanker explosion in the southern Libyan town of Bent Bayya, which took place earlier this month.

The patients arrived to Italy from Benghazi, andwill be transferred and assisted by the health services of the Piedmont, Liguria and Veneto regions, the Italian ministry said.

It also stated that thismedical evacuation mission was carried out in close collaboration with the Libyan authorities, and coordinated by the Italian Department of Civil Protection, Italian ministries of defense and foreign affairs, in addition to other bodies.

On August 6, Italy had taken in four other Libyan patients who have been wounded in the same incident, including an 11-year-old boy withsecond and third degree burns.

Child victim of Bent Bayya explosion arrives in Naples for treatment

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Italy to treat another 3 injured in Libya's Bent Bayya explosion - Libya Update

The United Nations on Tuesday voiced concern amid increasing tensions between rival Libyan factions in the war-torn country.

The U.N.'s mission UNSMIL said it was "following with deep concern the ongoing mobilisation of forces and threats to resort to force" by groups vying for control of the North African country.

Oil-rich Libya has been wracked by conflict since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. The country was split by rival administrations, one in the east-backed putschist Gen. Khalifa Haftar and a U.N.-supported administration in the capital of Tripoli in the west. Each side is supported by different militias and foreign powers.

In April 2019, Haftar and his forces, backed by Egypt, Russia and the United Arab Emirates, launched an offensive trying to capture Tripoli. His campaign collapsed after Turkey stepped up its military support for the U.N.-supported government.

An October 2020 cease-fire accord led to an agreement on a transitional government in early February 2021 headed by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah and to the scheduling of elections for last Dec. 24. But the elections werent held.

A long-running political crisis deepened in February when an eastern-based parliament picked former interior minister Fathi Bashagha to replace the government of Abdul Hamid Dbeibah.

But Dbeibah, the interim premier appointed last year as part of a United Nations-backed peace process to end more than a decade of violence in the North African country, has refused to hand over power before elections.

In its statement on Tuesday, UNSMIL warned that "the current political stalemate ... cannot be resolved through armed confrontation."

It called for an "immediate de-escalation" said that "the use of force by any party is not acceptable" and would not lead to international recognition.

Bashagha told Agence France-Presse (AFP) last month that Dbeibah's government is "illegitimate", arguing that "its mandate is over and it failed to make elections happen".

On Tuesday, Bashagha's office issued a statement urging "Libyan men of honour" to drop their support for Dbeibah's "obsolete and illegitimate" administration.

That sparked fears of renewed conflict in the capital Tripoli between backers of the two sides.

Bashagha, despite his appointment by the parliament elected in 2014, has been unable to impose his authority in Tripoli, initially ruling out the use of force.

More recently he has hinted that he could resort to force.

Last month, the most deadly clashes between rival groups in Tripoli since 2020 left 16 people dead including a child.

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UN concerned over increasing tensions between Libyan rival groups | Daily Sabah - Daily Sabah

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The United States is deeply concerned by renewed threats of violent confrontation in Tripoli and calls for immediate de-escalation by all sides. The vast majority of Libyans seek to choose their leadership peacefully through elections. We call on those who risk once again being dragged into violence to put down their arms and in particular urge Libyas leaders to recommit themselves without delay to identifying a constitutional basis for presidential and parliamentary elections. The ongoing instability is a reminder of the urgent need for the appointment of a new UN Special Representative of the Secretary General for Libya to resume mediation efforts, with unified support from the international community. The United States will amplify our calls for calm and recommitment to elections during the August 30 UN Security Council briefing and consultations on Libya.

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U.S. Renews Calls for De-escalation in Libya - United States Department of State - Department of State