Friday 29th of March 2024 Sahafi.jo | Ammanxchange.com
  • Last Update
    09-Apr-2019

Haftar Can Unite Libya, End Chaos - By Abdulrahman Al-Rashed, Asharq Al-Awsat

 

 

It is not surprising that Libyans look forward to the end of the eight-year nightmare of fighting and chaos and wish for a united country with one central government and one army. This dream seems closer to reality today, for the first time, with the rapid advancement of the Libyan National Army (LNA), which has arrived in Tripoli, the capital and militia stronghold, and liberated a number of its districts.
 
It is not only Libyans who want the end of the nightmare of war, the elimination of militias, and the establishment of one central authority. This is the desire of the world, and specifically most of the regional and international powers. Although all governments have called for a peaceful solution and a cessation of military operations, most of them do not mind a decisive military solution if there is no alternative, albeit under the leadership of army chief Khalifa Haftar. The language of the political statements issued by Paris, Washington, Moscow, and Cairo did not resort to the threat of sanctions, but instead adopted a language calling for a political solution, which is known to be unattainable under the previous balance of power, before the arrival of the vanguard of the LNA in Tripoli. The promised negotiations would have failed as long as the militias insisted on keeping their weapons, oil, and spheres of influence.
 
Ghassan Salame, the UN envoy to Libya, who had set the table for dialogue, said he would not back down despite the new developments and the solution would be negotiated at a conference next week.
 
“Having spent a year getting to this stage, I will not cancel it,” he said. In reality, this point seems to be better for negotiations, even if the LNA does not take all of Tripoli. The balance of power has changed in favor of the military leadership against the armed militias, whose neighborhoods are now within range of the army’s artillery fire.
 
In recent days, the militias have been keen to use the term “legitimacy” in their political propaganda, and claim that they are allies of the “internationally recognized Government of National Accord led by Fayez Al-Sarraj.” They have borrowed legitimacy from the Government of National Accord on the pretext that they support it. Legitimacy is a common word here. The army itself, led by Haftar, is a legitimate institution and enjoys the full support of the Libyan parliament, which is also a legitimate institution.
 
Most importantly, what about the Libyan people, who have been living in a miserable situation since the 2011 revolution? There is no doubt that they would welcome any central authority that would unite the country, reunite the shattered state, establish security and stability, eliminate the militias, and clear this long darkness.
 
In light of the eight-year chaos, nothing can unite Libya better than the LNA. Most of the militias are armed to the teeth, and some Al-Qaeda-affiliated groups, which are supported by governments like Qatar and Turkey, are even more dangerous. These same governments supported similar groups in the Syrian civil war. When the Qataris said that Saudi Arabia is supporting the LNA’s campaign to liberate Tripoli, that claim did not go beyond the bickering. Qatar has been publicly supporting Libyan extremist groups since the beginning of the war. As any action that ends the divisions and chaos must be welcome, I wish the accusations on Saudi Arabia supporting Haftar were true, but they are not. Saudi Arabia is moving away from regional events except in the Yemen war, where it is leading the Arab coalition. Most neighboring countries would be happy if the chaos and armed groups threatening Tunisia, Algeria, Chad, and Egypt were eliminated. Supporting the military move in Libya is not in favor of Haftar, nor LNA spokesman Ahmed Al-Mesmari, but rather in the hope of uniting Libyan and bringing salvation to the era of chaos.
 
 

Latest News

 

Most Read Articles