Khalifa Haftar, the military strongman who controls much of eastern Libya, is reportedly in a coma in a Paris hospital after suffering a stroke.

The 74-year-old general collapsed during a visit to Jordan earlier in the week and was evacuated to France, according to Le Monde.

A spokesman for Gen Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) initially denied the reports but has since declined to comment.

Gen Haftar won the backing of Egypt, the UAE, and Russia by presenting himself as a stabilising force in Libya who could be relied on to confront Islamist factions in the country’s east.

While the Western powers formally support the Gen Haftar’s rivals in the UN-backed government in Tripoli, Western governments had been increasingly open to dealing with the military leader.