Power struggle risks tipping Libya deeper into crisis

Power struggle risks tipping Libya deeper into crisis

January 07, 2017
The deeply tribal nation has been sharply divided since the 2011 ouster of longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi, with rival militias vying for influence and control of oil resources. — Archives
The deeply tribal nation has been sharply divided since the 2011 ouster of longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi, with rival militias vying for influence and control of oil resources. — Archives




By Imed Lamloum


ESCALATING tensions between rival Libyan armed forces threaten to plunge the North African country deeper into turmoil only weeks after the fall of Daesh (the so-called IS) group’s bastion Sirte.

The deeply tribal nation has been sharply divided since the 2011 ouster of longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi, with rival militias vying for influence and control of oil resources.

The power struggle pits an administration based in eastern Libya, backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar, against a UN-brokered unity government in Tripoli supported by militias from the western city of Misrata.

“The situation is most likely going to escalate further given that the voices of war are now the loudest” after an air strike by Haftar’s forces against the Misrata militias, analyst Mohamed Eljarh of the Atlantic Council said.

The Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) is the centerpiece of Western hopes to stem an upsurge of militancy in Libya, but it has failed to assert its authority across the country.

The rival authority in the east has refused to cede power and has its own armed forces, which call themselves the Libyan National Army (LNA) and are led by Haftar.

Pro-GNA fighters mainly from the Western town of Misrata drove Daesh from Sirte in December, capping a deadly months-long campaign for Gaddafi’s hometown.

The Misrata militias include hardliners determined to fight Haftar’s army.

The LNA has battled militants in second city Benghazi for more than two years and blames Misrata militias of backing diehard extremists.

On Dec. 7, two days after Sirte’s liberation, tensions flared when hardline Misrata militias joined an attack against Haftar’s forces launched by an alliance of Islamist and tribal fighters.

The assault on a town near Libya’s “oil crescent” — where Haftar had seized four export terminals from pro-GNA forces in September — was launched from Al-Jufra air base in southern Libya.

The LNA repelled it and since then has frequently bombarded the base, calling it a den of “terrorists”.

On Monday, an LNA airstrike hit a military plane carrying senior Misrata military and political figures who were flying out of Al-Jufra, killing one and wounding several.

The Misrata militias dispatched reinforcements to Al-Jufra as well as the Sebha region further west.

Martin Kobler, the UN special envoy to Libya, said he was “alarmed by the tensions in Libya’s south” and urged all sides “to act with restraint and to resolve issues through peaceful dialogue”.

US State Department spokesman John Kirby warned that further fighting could embolden Daesh group and other militants to reorganize.

“We note with deep concern... renewed fighting between Libyans... fighting which we believe will only benefit Daesh and other violent extremists there,” he said.

“The truth is that to date, Libyan forces have made progress against Daesh in Sirte and in eastern Libya, and that’s what makes this renewed fighting here of concern,” Kirby added.

Despite the recapture of Sirte, which had been Daesh’s main base in Libya, the militant threat persists in the country where experts say Daesh cells are present in several other areas including Tripoli. — AFP


January 07, 2017
HIGHLIGHTS