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TRIPOLI, Libya — Gen. Khalifa Hifter has been waiting decades for his moment.

A top general under Muammar Gaddafi, he was tainted by a disastrous defeat in a war against neighbouring Chad. Exiled in the United States, he helped lead the opposition and vowed to return one day. Since Gaddafi’s 2011 ouster he has struggled for a role, distrusted by other generals.

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Now his time may have come. He is presenting himself as Libya’s potential saviour after nearly two years of chaos in which unruly militias are exercising power over elected officials and assassinating dozens of soldiers and police.

In less than a week since Hifter surfaced, supporters flocked to his self-professed campaign to crush Islamist militias and their backers in parliament and to bring stability to the country.

But there are fears his ultimate goal is to make himself into a new Gaddafi, and his democratic credentials are far from established.