Tripoli Warns of Talks Boycott Amid Libya Truce Violations
Tripoli Warns of Talks Boycott Amid Libya Truce Violations
(Bloomberg) -- Libya’s internationally recognized government warned it might not participate in future peace talks after alleging repeated truce violations and attacks on civilians by rival forces of commander Khalifa Haftar.
The administration headed by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj said on its official Facebook page on Monday that nations which brokered the cease-fire must shoulder their responsibility and help end the infractions.
The government, in light of the “continuing breaches, will be forced to reconsider its participation in any talks,” it said.
Each side has accused the other of breaching the truce, which they agreed to earlier this month. World leaders gathered at a conference in Berlin Jan. 19 hoped to cement the deal and begin winding down what has become a proxy war involving regional powers Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, as well as Russia.
Adding to concern over the truce, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, described the spiraling violence as “quite worrying” and said international powers must put pressure on the two sides to end the conflict.
“We knew, everybody, that the result of the Berlin conference would not result in automatic implementation,” Borrell told reporters in Berlin on Monday alongside German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. “Everybody knew it wasn’t an agreement that would be enforced tomorrow.”
On Sunday, the eastern-based commander’s Libyan National Army, the country’s most organized military force, launched an offensive about 100 kilometers (62 miles) southeast of the city of Misrata, but was repelled by fighters allied with Sarraj.
The LNA’s spokesman said the operation was intended to send a message to opposing militias, and didn’t amount to a breach of the cease-fire.
The United Nations warned on Saturday that none of the parties were honoring the terms of the accord, which was now threatened by the “ongoing transfer of foreign fighters, weapons, ammunition and advanced systems” to combatants.
The UN had been working for years for peace in Libya without much enduring success. Efforts were ramped up after fighting for control of the capital, Tripoli, intensified as Russian mercenary forces entered the war on behalf of Haftar.
The Russian deployment -- and a subsequent decision by Turkey to send military backing for Sarraj -- deepened fears of an expanding conflict in a country where years of instability following the 2011 uprising that ousted Moammar al-Qaddafi enabled human traffickers and Islamist militants to put down roots.
To contact the reporter on this story: Tarek El-Tablawy in Cairo at teltablawy@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Riad Hamade at rhamade@bloomberg.net, Mark Williams, Michael Gunn
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