There is a sense of frustration at the failure of Libyan groups to arrive at a peace deal despite intense international pressure. Another deadline passed this week without any ceasefire and fighting is raging across the country. At a meeting in New York originally planned to celebrate the signing of a UN-brokered peace deal, Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon appealed to the country’s rival governments to come together and gave Libya’s two governments a fourth deadline to agree the plan by October 20. We will have to wait to see if the UN official’s exhortation to peace will be followed. It’s highly unlikely, given the current mood of belligerence and animosity between all sides. The rival governments in the country have declared their refusal to sign the deal. Khalifa al-Ghwell, the prime minister of the Tripoli-based General National Congress, says the plan is “inconsistent with the highest principles of the nation”. Agila Saleh Gwaider, president of the elected and internationally recognised House of Representatives based in the eastern city of Tobruk, said no deal is possible while his rival held the capital by force. Also, the country is populated with warlords who are fighting their own wars. Even if there is a central deal to bring peace, these warlords will make any such deal redundant by refusing to withdraw.
There have also been accusations that the UN-brokered deal is difficult to implement. It proposes a complicated governance structure designed to give both parliaments vetoes over decisions by a proposed unity government. The plan gives both sides a share of the power, but it complicate things with both sides resorting to the veto power, making a consens us impossible.
With the international attention focused on Syria, the Libyan civil war hasn’t attracted the attention it deserves. The country is in chaos and with so many problems on the door fronts of Europe, America and the Arab world, there is no appetite for an active involvement to find a solution. There is talk about a military intervention, which is unlikely to materialiase.
The UN will persist with its attempts to find a solution. But optimism is low as fighting intensifies across the country and all sides stick stubbornly to their demands.
The UN will begin fresh meetings next week to get Libyans to agree the plan by the new deadline. “The EU and UN are just going to keep banging on the political process drum, they believe as long as the political process is in play, it precludes military intervention,” said Geoff Porter, director of North Africa Risk Consultancy.
Libya will soon develop into another humanitarian disaster and Europe will be forced bear the brunt of this disaster because of the country’s closeness to this continent.
There is a sense of frustration at the failure of Libyan groups to arrive at a peace deal despite intense international pressure. Another deadline passed this week without any ceasefire and fighting is raging across the country. At a meeting in New York originally planned to celebrate the signing of a UN-brokered peace deal, Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon appealed to the country’s rival governments to come together and gave Libya’s two governments a fourth deadline to agree the plan by October 20. We will have to wait to see if the UN official’s exhortation to peace will be followed. It’s highly unlikely, given the current mood of belligerence and animosity between all sides. The rival governments in the country have declared their refusal to sign the deal. Khalifa al-Ghwell, the prime minister of the Tripoli-based General National Congress, says the plan is “inconsistent with the highest principles of the nation”. Agila Saleh Gwaider, president of the elected and internationally recognised House of Representatives based in the eastern city of Tobruk, said no deal is possible while his rival held the capital by force. Also, the country is populated with warlords who are fighting their own wars. Even if there is a central deal to bring peace, these warlords will make any such deal redundant by refusing to withdraw.
There have also been accusations that the UN-brokered deal is difficult to implement. It proposes a complicated governance structure designed to give both parliaments vetoes over decisions by a proposed unity government. The plan gives both sides a share of the power, but it complicate things with both sides resorting to the veto power, making a consens us impossible.
With the international attention focused on Syria, the Libyan civil war hasn’t attracted the attention it deserves. The country is in chaos and with so many problems on the door fronts of Europe, America and the Arab world, there is no appetite for an active involvement to find a solution. There is talk about a military intervention, which is unlikely to materialiase.
The UN will persist with its attempts to find a solution. But optimism is low as fighting intensifies across the country and all sides stick stubbornly to their demands.
The UN will begin fresh meetings next week to get Libyans to agree the plan by the new deadline. “The EU and UN are just going to keep banging on the political process drum, they believe as long as the political process is in play, it precludes military intervention,” said Geoff Porter, director of North Africa Risk Consultancy.
Libya will soon develop into another humanitarian disaster and Europe will be forced bear the brunt of this disaster because of the country’s closeness to this continent.
