Libya Emerges As A New Challenge – OpEd
By Osama Al Sharif
<
http://www.eurasiareview.com/26112014-libya-emerges-new-challenge-oped/>
November 26, 2014
While international and regional efforts are focused on fighting militants
in Syria and Iraq, one country is quickly emerging as an immediate danger to
its neighbors, to most of North Africa and perhaps to Europe. Libya is
already a failed state; a divided country with two governments and two
parliaments and hundreds of tribal factions fighting under different
banners.
In the wake of the chaos and break out of violence that followed the
overthrow and summary execution of dictator Muammar Gaddafi in October 2011,
government institutions began to collapse and factional confrontations
gripped most of Libya. Attempts to keep Libya united and maintain a
political process failed repeatedly and militant groups, belonging to
various tribes, quickly divided the country among themselves.
Today a coalition of various Islamist factions, the Dawn of Libya, is in
control of Tripoli. In the past few days, the air force of the National
Libyan Army began bombing selected targets in the capital and other towns in
the west of the country.
In Benghazi, Libya’s main city in the east, militants belonging to Ansar
Al-Shariah, designated by the UN as a terrorist group, are fighting a bloody
war over control of the city against the forces of retired Gen. Khalifa
Haftar and the Libyan army.
The Libyan uprising against Gaddafi’s rule in February 2011 would not have
succeeded without the intervention of western forces. NATO air force;
comprised mostly of US, French and British planes, destroyed Gaddafi’s
militias and provided essential logistical aid to armed rebel groups from
various tribes. But no sooner had the regime collapsed than western support
for a sustainable political process began to wane. Following the killing of
US ambassador in Benghazi in September 2012, allegedly by
Al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorists, western presence in the country was quickly
reduced.
Today most foreign embassies remain closed.
Special UN envoy to Libya Bernardino León has failed to launch a national
dialogue between various factions. The General National Council in Tripoli,
associated with Islamist forces and controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood,
has been reinstated through a controversial ruling by a constitutional court
two weeks ago, which effectively dissolved the elected parliament, which has
been relocated to Tobruk.
As the country slipped into civil war, a newcomer emerged on the scene in
Libya. Fighters loyal to the Islamic State (IS) have taken control of the
city of Derna in the east in the past few weeks. This is the closest IS-
controlled city to Europe; about 200 miles from the EU’s southern shores.
Reports say that IS militants include Libyan militants who had returned from
Syria and Iraq in addition to other fighters from North Africa. The militant
faction in Derna calls itself the “Barqa” provincial division of the Islamic
State, which is the Roman name given to eastern Libya. Many tribes in the
east are calling for a state of their own in the Barqa province, which
includes Benghazi and most of Libya’s oil fields in the east.
The chaos in Libya will go on for many years. The current military campaign,
by the national army and Haftar’s forces, is unlikely to succeed in chasing
out Islamist rebels and uniting the country. Naturally the destabilization
of Libya threatens its neighbors. Last week Egyptian President Abdel Fattah
El-Sissi urged the United States and Europe to provide assistance to the
Libyan army in its fight against militants. Egypt believes that Libyan
militants are providing Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis in Sinai, another group now
affiliated with the Islamic State, with weapons and fighters. The long
desert border between Egypt and Libya is a security nightmare for the
Egyptian army, which has been waging a bloody war against militants in
Sinai.
El-Sissi believes that concentrating military efforts on Syria and Iraq will
make Libya an attractive option for IS militants. Egypt and the UAE denied
reports that their air force had carried out strikes against militants in
Libya. But UAE’s Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed was quoted last week as
saying that his country had “a huge responsibility in getting Libya on the
right side.” He added, “We believe especially that the countries that played
a role in getting rid of Gaddafi, first of all, should have played a far
bigger role the day after. They haven’t.”
But with the United States and its allies caught up in an extended military
campaign in Syria and Iraq it is difficult to see a change in policy to
encompass Libya in the fight against IS militants anytime soon. Furthermore,
providing air cover to the Libyan army will not be enough to dislodge
Islamist fighters from key positions, as the two-month allied bombardment of
Kobani on the Syrian-Turkish border has proven.
Libya has indeed become a huge geopolitical liability. Addressing the
complex problem there will require regional and international effort.
Failure to realize that the Libyan situation will get more complicated in
the coming weeks will force America’s allies to act unilaterally. Egypt and
the UAE are already doing that. But will it be enough?
Received on Wed Nov 26 2014 - 08:33:46 EST