Stalemate in political process pushes military escalation in Libya

Imprimer

Tripoli, Libya, August 20 (Infosplusgabon) - Hopes for a permanent ceasefire following the humanitarian truce of Eid al-Adha on August 10, were quickly dashed, reversing the Libyan situation to the beginning of the stalemate in the country's political process.

 

Despite the means of action and influenc3 of some countries to change the course of events, the present situation provides no alternative to military confrontation in this North African country.

 

No prospect of appeasement is on the horizon in the military escalation that has engulfed Libya since April 4 when the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Khalifa Haftar launched the military offensive against Tripoli, the base of the Government of National Accord (GNA) led by Fayez al-Sarraj, and recognized by the international community.

 

The armed clashes that never stopped even at the peak of the truce, have resumed more strongly in recent days with intense fighting in the outskirts of Tripoli between the two camps.

 

The use of fighter jets has been multiplied, with strikes targeting airports in western Libya, and raising an uproar both locally and internationally.

 

The airports of Maitigua, in the eastern suburb of Tripoli, the only one serving the city is bombed almost daily and that of Zouara, has been hit by two successive raids.

 

 

The attacks have damaged the infrastructure of the two airports, disrupting flights to the chagrin of citizens and travellers who see their business disrupted, besides people who need to travel for medical care abroad and flights for humanitarian service.

 

The new US ambassador to Libya, Richard Norland, has expressed concern over the intensification of bombings against civilian airports, urging restraint and the resumption of talks under the auspices of the United Nations to find a way out of the crisis in Libya.

 

 

The same is true for the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), which strongly condemned the systematic targeting of airports in the western region of the country, and the pretext put forward by the LNA on the use of airport facilities for military purposes.

 

 

UNSMIL said its team went to Zouara airport and found "no structure or military use" of this airport.

 

 

The Presidential Council has condemned the attacks on the airports, saying they are being carried out deliberately to plunge the region into chaos, and called on the UN Mission and the international community to hold the perpetrators accountable.

 

 

In southern Libya, the city of Morzouk is still plagued by deadly inter-tribal armed clashes that have left 90 dead, 200 wounded and 1,285 displaced families, or 6,425 displaced people, according to statistics from the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) which underlined the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the city.

 

 

The emergency exit plan presented at the beginning of August by the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, Ghassan Salamé, bearing, in addition, on a humanitarian truce, the holding of two meetings, an international gathering of the countries involved in the Libyan case, and the other between Libyans to further the completion of the political process for a final negotiated settlement is barely implemented.

 

 

The efforts of Mr. Salame to hold an international meeting do not seem to lead to anything concrete that could foreshadow a mobilization of countries interested in Libya, although this country remains always at the top of the concerns of the great powers.

 

 

Indeed, the head of UNSMIL, which is sponsoring the political process, has not undertaken any overseas tour to promote the holding of this international meeting and the resumption of dialogue for a negotiated solution.

 

The current international situation is certainly something to do with the holding of the G7 Summit in France on Tuesday, the problems of the governmental collation of far-right parties in Italy and preparations for the elections in the United States.

 

However, this should not prevent the Libyan case to remain a concern at the international level with regard to external interference and the stakes of this conflict for the countries of the region as well as the Western powers.

 

 

French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed on the need, after their summit meeting in France on Monday, to restore stability in Libya at a time when military escalation is at its height.

 

 

At a joint press conference with Putin on Monday, Macron called for peace in Libya, saying: "We want to ensure stability in Libya and restore order, with Russia playing an important role in international issues."

 

 

For his part, President Putin expressed "his desire to strengthen cooperation between the two countries on the Libyan issue in order to coordinate efforts for reconciliation between the warring parties."

 

 

Libya was also on the agenda of an interview between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Choukri during which they stressed the need to find a solution to the crisis and to end the military escalation.

 

In a statement, the US State Department said that Mr. Pompeo also discussed with Mr. Chokri "the cooperation to fight against the Islamic State and al-Qaeda".

 

 

The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed hope for a political solution in Libya, according to the US State Department.

 

 

For Libyan political analyst Mehdi Aboubaker al-Najjar, "the wishes of these countries for stability and the cessation of hostility must be followed by palpable acts on their part, since they have the capacity to influence events and press the warring parties to make concessions and achieve peace."

 

 

He said, "these countries that are warring with Libya, have no interest in ending the conflict that their proteges win the victory in order to extend their hegemony over the country and its wealth without consideration for Libyans, and human rights and international law issues for civilians languishing in Libya under bombs, caught in the crossfire of unscrupulous warlords."

 

 

For university professor Abdelwahab al-Bashir "this impasse pushes the belligerents to more armed confrontation to fight in the absence of prospects for a negotiated solution."

 

 

"The mobilization of troops and the all-out attacks on civilian installations, both during the truce and the refusal of any negotiated solution, demonstrate that Mr. Haftar is in distress and that he is seeking a victory at any cost," he said.

 

 

FIN/INFOSPLUSGABON/POP/GABON2019

 

 

© Copyright Infosplusgabon