During a briefing session of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Martin Kobler, Special Representative of the United Nations Special Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), explained that minorities in the Tobruk House of Representatives (HoR) and the Tripoli General National Congress (GNC) have been blocking the will of the majority of Libyans to endorse Faize al-Serraj’s second proposed cabinet to form the Government of National Accord (GNA). Reference was made to the 22 February session of the HoR, following which a group of 100 MPs released a declaration in which they condemned, what was understood as, coercion tactics by supporters of Saleh Aguila – president of the HoR – to prevent a vote of endorsement for Serraj’s government. For the first time, Kobler took of his diplomatic gloves and criticised Khalifa Haftar’s operation, in a departure from UNSMIL’s official position. Another significant change in UNSMIL’s briefing was making a clear distinction between the Benghazi Revolutionary Shura Council (BRSC) and so-called Islamic State (IS). The distinction did not go unnoticed for close followers of the Libyan conflict because Haftar’s supporters, in Libya and in the West, never miss an opportunity to claim that the so-called Libyan Army under his command is fighting IS in Benghazi.
Kobler’s resolve to take on Haftar is explained by the fact that Haftar, his allies in the HoR, represented by the National Sovereignty bloc, and abroad Cairo and Abu Dubai. Kobler’s trip to Cairo in late February apparently yielded no significant results. Haftar also has the firm support of Ali Guitrani, a member of the Presidency Council. According to Guitrani, Article 8.2a of the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA) should be amended to explicitly stipulate Haftar as commander of the Libyan armed forces (see Cordoba Update 2/2016).
The National Sovereignty bloc disputes the claim of the 100 MPs who claim they were coerced by the HoR president, who, according to them, prevented the holding of the vote. The Sovereignty bloc claim that the necessary quorum of 99 MPs was not reached during the registration period (10:00-23:00), as set by the House’s internal regulations. Besides, they claim that six signatures belonging to MPs who were outside Libya were forged, and another four names were added over the name. In addition to these procedural considerations, the National Sovereignty bloc reached out to the GNC in Tripoli, in an attempt to revive the 15 December Libyan-Libyan dialogue that was initiated by Nouri Bousahmin and Aguila Saleh in Tunis and Malta. In Tripoli however, talk is of a Saudi Arabian peace initiative that apparently has the support of Algiers. Kobler’s response to all these developments was to call on the UNSC to impose sanctions on all those who are blocking the LPA. Jamal Khajoukshi, a well-informed Saudi political analyst with close ties to the Saudi establishment, tweeted the news last week. Khajoukshi is one of a number of Saudi analysts who have been publicly arguing that Riyadh cannot afford to disengage from the Libyan conflict, and concentrate only on Yemen. According to him, Riyadh must weigh in on the Libyan conflict and rein in its allies (UAE and Egypt) if its war effort in Yemen, and engagement in Syria, are to achieve positive results.
Links for more information:
http://unsmil.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?tabid=3543
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gnv05AnH2xk&feature=youtu.be (Press conference of HoR National Sovereignty Bloc)
http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/country-files/libya/events/2016/article/libya-statement-from-the-ambassadors
