Libya’s future threatened by Daesh: UN chief

Nouakchott — UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned that the future of Libya, and the stability of the whole Sahel region, is at stake as it faces the “terrifying threat” of the Daesh group. But he warned international powers not to “stoke the fires of conflict” in the country. Ban was speaking in Mauritania before heading to Algeria on Saturday as part of a tour of West and North Africa. While meeting Mauritanian leaders, including President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz and Prime Minister Yahya Ould Hademine, in the capital Nouakchott on Friday he said he was “deeply concerned about the situation in Libya.” Chaos has engulfed Libya since the 2011 NATO-backed ouster of dictator Muammar Gaddafi and rival administrations are being urged to sign up to a UN-brokered national unity government to help restore stability. The internationally recognized government is based in the far east of the North African country. The Daesh group and other extremist organizations have exploited the power vacuum, making gains along the oil-rich coastal regions and triggering concern among Western nations over militants controlling territory just 300 km (185 miles) from Europe. “There are alarming reports of widespread human rights violations, including serious abuses that may amount to war crimes,” Ban said in his comments Friday. “All those with influence must use it to calm the situation and stop the fighting. It is utterly irresponsible for any outside player to stoke the fires,” he added. Ban said that his special representative Martin Kobler “is facilitating talks on a national unity government” as “we face the terrifying scourge of Daesh (IS) expanding in Libya and beyond its borders.” Delays would only worsen the dire humanitarian needs, he warned, adding that “Libya’s future is at stake” and “the reverberations echo far.” Success in stabilizing Libya would also benefit the whole Sahel region and “our world” in general, he added. Tens of thousands of refugees from Western Sahara live in refugee camps in Algeria, which were built when the fighting began. Ban visited one such camp near Tindouf in western Algeria on Saturday. He began his visit at the Smara refugee camp near Tindouf 1,800 km (1,100 miles) west of Algiers near the border with Morocco and was greeted by a crowd of several thousand. Ban said that refugee camps built in Algeria more than four decades ago and which currently shelter near 200,000 people “are among the oldest in the world.” He voiced sadness that people have been trapped there for so long, and added that the United Nations will strive to improve conditions for the refugees. Ban also visited a UN base at Bir-Lahou in the disputed territory. In Nouakchott on Friday, Ban also called for Mauritania’s help in the Western Sahara dispute. “Making progress on the situation in Western Sahara is also of importance here too,” he said. “Numerous refugees share the same culture and family ties with Mauritanians.”