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Hafter's announcement of military offensive on Tripoli raises concern in Libya

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Tripoli, Libya, April 5 (Infosplusgabon) - Tension has risen a notch in Tripoli after Marshal Khalifa Hafter expressly ordered his troops on Thursday to take control of the Libyan capital, a day after the units entered the city of Ghariayane, 120 km south of Tripoli.

 

 

Hafter's action comes at a time when United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is in Libya to support the political process, including the launch of the inclusive National Conference scheduled for April 14 in Ghadames.

 

Faced with this military escalation and timing, where all efforts were focused on finding a political solution to the Libyan crisis, analysts are questioning Hafter's objective and the scope of this use of weapons that compromises the entire process.

 

For Libyan political analyst Adessalem Fitouri, "Khalifa Hafter has never really embraced the political process or a negotiated solution," he said, adding that "his participation in conferences and other mediation initiatives only served to give him an international stature that would allow him to gain support from foreign countries."

 

According to Fitouri, "Hafter's refusal to recognise the Skhirat Political Agreement, signed in 2015 in Morocco, is a good illustration of his position on the political solution of the crisis, given that he does not believe in peaceful means. All his concern is to take power and lead the country.

 

"The military operations in Benghazi, then Derna and the south of the country, and the current military offensive reveal his insatiable ambition to seize power and install a military dictatorship."

 

Khlifa Tarhouni, a human rights activist in Libya, believes that "Hafter's military offensive against Tripoli is intended to delay the holding of the National Forum which will determine Libya's fate and from which Khalifa Hafter could be excluded despite the armed forces he commands."

 

He argued that "the establishment of a timetable for the general elections will encourage the emergence of new authorities that will certainly deprive him [Hafter] of any position of responsibility."

 

For university professor Marwan Abdelkrim,  "Hafter is working through the military operation against Tripoli to present himself at the Forum in a position of strength to impress delegates in order to obtain more gains."

 

According to Abdelkrim, "Hafter wants to join forces with as many cities and tribes as possible during the Inclusive Forum to be essential in any search for a solution and to impose his will on the Libyans."

The United Nations Envoy to Libya, Ghasan Salamé, announced the holding of an inclusive National Conference from 14-16 April in Ghadames with the participation of some 150 delegates to reach consensus on a timetable for general elections, adopt legislative provisions to end the transition period and form a government of national unity.

This offensive, which risks setting the country on fire through a widespread confrontation in Tripoli and the exorbitant cost that civilians and damage to infrastructure in the city risk paying, will undermine any peaceful settlement.

The UN Secretary General made this clear at a press conference following his meeting on Thursday with the Presidential Council Chairman Fayez al-Sarraj.

Mr. Guterres said that the inclusive National Conference could not be held under the current conditions, in reference to the military offensive, expressing his willingness to take the initiative to work to ease tension through mediation.

Emphasising that that there would be no military solution in Libya, he stated that "only dialogue among Libyans and consensus can take the country out of this crisis."

Countries such as the United States, Britain, France, Italy and the United Arab Emirates on Thursday called on "all parties" in Libya to reduce "tensions immediately" after Marshal Khalifa Hafer ordered his troops to move towards Tripoli.

"In this delicate period of the transition process in Libya, military measures and unilateral threats threaten to plunge Libya back into chaos," the five states said in a joint statement issued by the U.S. State Department.

 

"We firmly believe that there is no military solution to the Libyan conflict, and our governments oppose any military action in Libya and we will hold any Libyan faction that fuels the civil war accountable," the statement added.

 

The five countries underlined "their full support for the United Nations in finding a solution to the Libyan crisis".

 

 

Great Britain, on its part, has taken the initiative to convene an urgent Security Council meeting on the escalation in Libya.

 

 

Armed groups in Misrata, 220 km east of Tripoli, have mobilised large troops and equipment, and sent them to Tripoli to defend the city and prevent the Libyan National Army forces from advancing towards the capital.

 

 

Meanwhile, armed groups present in the city, forming a coalition known as the Tripoli Defence Force, have gathered and set themselves ready to confront Hafter's troops. Skirmishes have already occurred resulting in death and injury, according to  Libyan National Army spokesman, General Ahmed al-Mesmari.

 

 

The offensive rekindled tensions and war while threatening to undermine the political process that had come to an end with the setting of the date for the National Conference.

 

 

Ayoub Karati, an employee in an oil company in Tripoli, deplored the turn of events, saying that "every time the country approaches an outing, it is compromised at the last minute."

 

 

He said "the country is a victim of bad luck because optimism had won over a large part of the Libyans who had high hopes for the Conference, although some have grievances here and there against it, but wanted to seize this opportunity as a lifeline to get the country out of the crisis."

 

 

But the international community, which has invested considerably in finding a solution in recent times by actively supporting the Action Plan of the UN Envoy to Libya, will not let this offensive spoil all these recent efforts.

 

 

 

Strong decisions should be taken by the United Nations to deter the use of weapons to resolve the crisis and bring the Libyans back into the political process for a negotiated solution.

 

 

FIN/INFOSPLUSGABON/YUT/GABON2019

 

 

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