Foreign interference remains a serious obstacle to the return of peace in Libya, even if personal and tribal rivalries in this neighboring country should not be overlooked either.
The Government of National Union (GNA) suspended Tuesday evening its participation in the Geneva talks, after the bombing that had targeted the same day the port of Tripoli and certain districts of the capital, leaving at least three dead and wounded.
“We are announcing the suspension of our participation in the military talks taking place in Geneva until firm positions are adopted against the aggressor (Khalifa Haftar) and his violations” of the truce, said the GNA in a press release denouncing this umpteenth violation of the January 12 truce.
“It is clear that the objective of the systematic bombing of residential areas, the airport, and the port, in addition to the total blockage of oil installations, is to provoke crises for citizens in all aspects of their lives”, said noted the release. According to the GNA, having “failed militarily to seize power, the aggressor (Haftar) tries, in vain, to create a state of confusion to destabilize” the population.
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The Libyan parties met Tuesday morning in Geneva within the framework of the discussions of the mixed Libyan military committee “5 + 5”, under the aegis of the UN. Amin al-Hachemi, the spokesman for the Ministry of Health, confirmed the death of three civilians and the death toll of five injured in the bombings that affected the University of Tripoli and the residential areas of al-Hadhaba.
Despite renewed violence for a week, the GNA has refrained from any radical reaction, having hoped for a cessation of hostilities to implement the Berlin declaration of January 19, followed by a Security Council resolution asking the Libyan parties a lasting and permanent “cease-fire”.
Moreover, the GNA denounced “the continuous contempt” for this resolution of the Security Council, adopted last week, and for the decisions of the international summit in Berlin, where the head of the GNA, Fayez al-Serraj, and Khalifa Haftar refused to meet. “Without a lasting ceasefire (…) negotiations make no sense.
There can be no peace under the bombing, ”said the GNA. But Haftar, the armed wing of the parallel authorities in eastern Libya, conditions the cease-fire by the departure of Turkey from Libyan soil, the dissolution of the militias and the departure of the mercenaries dispatched by Ankara in recent weeks, in support of GNA.
With the support of the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, but also Russia and France, the retired general launched a vast operation to conquer Tripoli since 4 April 2019, causing a new humanitarian crisis in Libya, in addition to the 2,000 dead, including civilians, and more than 15,000 injured.
