Libya: next stop today in Morocco
While conflict still rages in Libya, the UN-sponsored national dialogue is moving closer to establishing agreement on at least some fundamentals
The ninth round of the UN-sponsored Libyan dialogue is set to begin
Thursday (today) against a backdrop of mounting polarisation and
violence in Libya since the middle of last year.
From 29 September 2014 to the beginning of February this year, the UN
Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has convened eight dialogue rounds
between the rival factions. The last six, held at the UN’s Geneva
headquarters, made considerable headway in bridging opposing positions,
perhaps bringing within reach a solution that will resolve the near
year-old crisis.
The ninth round will be held in Morocco. It was originally scheduled to
begin on Sunday or Monday this week, but was postponed after a request
from former members of the officially dissolved General National
Congress (GNC).
Al-Sherif Al-Wafi (Al-Marj), Tawfik Al-Shoheibi of the liberal National
Forces Alliance (Tobruk) and Ahmed Al-Abbar (Benghazi) wrote to UNSMIL
chief Bernardino Leon asking for the talks to be postponed in light of
the mourning that followed the triple bombings in Al-Qubbah Friday
morning.
The bombings killed more than 45 soldiers and civilians and wounded
dozens more. IS (the Islamic State) claimed responsibility for the
terrorist attack, which used three booby-trapped vehicles, saying that
it was in retaliation for the Egyptian aerial attack on Derna last week.
Al-Wafi is allied with the negotiating team of the House of
Representatives in Tobruk. He said that there was an additional reason
for requesting the postponement. His team had received information that
Leon, in the ninth round, intended to push more forcefully for an
agreement on creating a national unity government. The Tobruk team
wanted more time to discuss the matter prior to the Morocco meeting.
Libyan sources that are participating in the dialogue told Al-Ahram
Weekly that the Tobruk parliamentary team and its allies have strong
reservations over the agenda for the ninth round and the UN envoy’s
intention to submit a proposal for a national unity government.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the sources said that the Tobruk
team and its allies believe that Leon wants to push through a formula
for a national unity government that would include parties that lost in
the legislative elections last summer, and that this conflicts with the
principles of the democratic process to which the Libyan people aspire.
The GNC, re-established in Tripoli, approved the decision to defer the
dialogue in the aftermath of the terrorist attack against Al-Qubbah. It
is interesting to note that up to the Moroccan round, the conflicting
parties are evenly matched in their boycotts or requests to defer the
UN-sponsored talks, with four instances per side.
Although the first two rounds that were held in Libya (in Ghadames on
29 September and in Tripoli on 5 October, the latter attended by the UN
secretary-general) sought to unite the recently elected House of
Representatives, a large segment of the members of the House, which had
begun to meet in Tobruk, argued that the MPs boycotting the Tobruk
sessions were affiliated with the Tripoli camp dominated by the Libyan
Dawn forces commanded from Misrata.
The subsequent six rounds that were held in Geneva in January and
February brought considerable progress, even though they were boycotted
by the resurrected GNC. Participants approved the proposal submitted by
UN envoy Leon to form a national unity government and agreed to enhance
confidence-building measures and to continue to appeal for a ceasefire
on all fronts in Libya.
In addition, one of the rounds produced an agreement between the
municipal councils of Misrata and Tawrga to begin discussions on how to
enable refugees from the latter city to return to their homes after the
civil war of 2011 against the Muammar Gaddafi regime.
That the participants agreed to form a national unity government should
enhance the UN envoy’s prospects to halt the fighting and resolve the
various political, social, economic and humanitarian dimensions of the
conflict that has plagued the country since May last year.
In spite of the heated controversy sparked domestically and
internationally by the Libyan Supreme Court ruling that nullified the
last parliamentary elections, it appears that Leon has chosen to leap
over this in the hope of bridging the gap between the two sides.
Leon, like the rest of the international community, is keen to reverse
the polarisation that spiralled sharply after retired General Khalifa
Haftar launched Operation Dignity in May, precipitating a dramatic
upsurge in militia warfare throughout the country.
Libya has had five electoral seasons since the fall of the Gaddafi
regime, beginning with the GNC elections on 7 July 2012. Then came local
council elections in 2012 and 2013, followed by the municipal council
elections in late 2013 and 2014, the elections of the Constituent
Assembly charged with drafting the constitution in March 2014 and,
lastly, parliamentary elections on 25 June 2014.
It is noteworthy that the results of all these elections showed no
major change in the balance of socio-political forces, unlike in Tunisia
and Egypt where the Islamist current receded or was removed from power.
Nevertheless, the voting in Libya did reflect a major shift, in the
form of a tilt away from the Islamists and toward the liberals.
The IS bombings of Al-Qubbah on Friday has upped the pressure on the
House of Representatives from the people of the eastern region — as well
as from supporters of General Haftar — to appoint Haftar general
commander of the Libyan army and to create a military council to oversee
the war against terrorism. Observers believe that if Haftar is
appointed general commander it will enhance his chances of emerging as
an unrivalled strongman in eastern Libya.
Meanwhile, the international community, and particularly the US, the EU
and the UK, are more determined than ever to push Libyan factions
towards a settlement. This was evident at the UN Security Council
meetings last week that underscored the need to form a national unity
government. Security Council members also refused to lift the ban on
supplying arms to the Libyan army, currently divided as a consequence of
the conflicts raging in the country.
In the aftermath of the IS terrorist attack Friday, the US, the UK, the
UN and the EU issued statements stressing the need for Libyans to come
to an agreement over the formation of a national unity government to
oversee the remainder of the interim phase.
Hostilities persist in Cyrenaica in the east, the “petroleum crescent”
in central Libya and near the capital in western Libya between the
forces of Libya Dawn and Operation Dignity. Nonetheless, the Misrata
municipal council has announced that it has formed two committees to
promote dialogue with the eastern and western regions towards a
ceasefire.
Source: ahram.org
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