Pompeo Warns Libyan Warlord's Forces to Halt Advance on Tripoli
Pompeo Warns Libyan Warlord's Forces to Halt Advance on Tripoli
(Bloomberg) -- The Trump administration issued a stern warning to Libyan militia leader Khalifa Haftar to halt his forces’ advance on Tripoli, sending oil prices to their highest level in more than four months amid mounting supply concerns.
Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said in a statement late Sunday that the U.S. was “deeply concerned” about the warlord’s threat to the internationally recognized capital. He said the military campaign was endangering civilians and undermining efforts to resolve the dispute peacefully.
“We have made clear that we oppose the military offensive by Khalifa Haftar’s forces and urge the immediate halt to these military operations against the Libyan capital,” Pompeo said. “There is no military solution to the Libya conflict.”
Brent for June settlement advanced as much as 0.7 percent to $70.86 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, the highest since Nov. 12. Crude prices have continued to climb after their strongest quarter in almost a decade as OPEC and its allies curb output while economic and political crises squeeze supplies from member nations Venezuela and Iran. An escalation of the conflict in Libya, which pumped 1.1 million barrels of crude a day last month, risks creating a supply shortfall.
Haftar is moving his self-styled Libyan National Army west to Tripoli to fight what he says is “terrorism,” after solidifying control of the east and sweeping through the south in January. Clashes have continued on the outskirts of the capital, including air strikes, despite appeals by global powers to halt the offensive.
“A political solution is the only way to unify the country and provide a plan for security, stability and prosperity for all Libyans,” Pompeo said.
U.S. Involvement
The OPEC member’s internationally recognized government said it would counterattack to clear Haftar’s forces, which could lead to some of the bloodiest battles since the 2011 civil war that ousted strongman Moammar Qaddafi. As tensions grow increasingly inflamed, so does the risk of disruption to Libya’s oil production -- fighting anywhere in the country, even if it’s far from major oil fields, can cause swings in output.
The U.S. Africa Command is temporarily withdrawing troops from Libya in response to “security conditions on the ground,” the latest chapter in America’s fraught military involvement in the North African country since Qaddafi fell. Libya’s government said in February that joint Libyan and U.S. forces had bombed a site linked to al-Qaeda militants in the south.
A 2016 U.S.-backed campaign pushed local Islamic State groups from their stronghold of Sirte. But Libya needs more help from America to overcome its divisions and stop the militant organization from regrouping amid the current chaos, Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha said last month.
Over the past year, Islamic State has claimed several attacks, including at the elections headquarter, the Foreign Ministry and the National Oil Corporation’s headquarters in Tripoli.
“It will be expensive for us as Libyans and expensive for the United States, which by its own laws is obliged to fight al-Qaeda and Daesh,” Bashagha said in March, using the Arabic acronym for Islamic State. “The United States must pay more attention to the Libyan political file to make sure there is a political deal.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Brendan Scott in Singapore at bscott66@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Bill Faries at wfaries@bloomberg.net, Daniel Ten Kate, Jon Herskovitz
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