UN special envoy to Libya: ‘All options on the table’

The United Nations will be forced to intervene and fill the vacuum with concrete action if the rival factions in Libya fail to reach an agreement.

The United Nation’s special representative to Libya, Bernardino Leon, also said that “all options are on the table” when it comes to addressing Libya’s escalating situation.

“An agreement with all stakeholders should be a priority,” Leon said. “If this fails, there is no doubt the security council will ask the UN to fill the vacuum with concrete action and decisions.”

As Libya marks its fourth anniversary of the revolution, the neighbouring country remains divided in factions, threatened by extremists’ forces. For months Leon has been leading peace talks in Geneva, but no concrete progress has been reached.

“Libya’s problems do not just affect Libya,” Leon said, referring to the ripple effect of migration, economic upset and political instability the situation was having on the rest of the Mediterranean basin and the European Union.

Leon was speaking on the One TV breakfast show via phone call.

Leon has urged all Libyans to recommit to the revolution’s goals of building a democratic state based on human rights and the rule of law and to agree to the formation of a national unity government.

Libya now has two government and two parliaments – one housed in Tobruk and the other in Tripoli. The Tobruk government, led by Prime Minister Abdallah al-Thinni, enjoys international recognition as Libya’s legitimate government. Thinni’s government was forced out of the capital city after a group linked to the western city of Misrata seized the capital Tripoli in August, dividing the North African country and setting up a rival assembly.

Tripoli’s Omar al-Hassi took over when a ruling of the Libyan Supreme Court declared country's elected parliament unconstitutional.

The rapidly deteriorating situation resulted in a stronger presence of extremists with al Thinni confirming that “IS and al Qaeda” were present in his country. He is now seeking the West’s support to intervene in Libya.

On the other hand, a spokesman for the Tripoli-based parliament called Egypt’s recent airstrikes against IS militants in Derna “an attack on the country’s sovereignty”.

Egypt retaliated on Monday after a video purporting to show the beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians by IS was published online. Over 60 militants are believed to have been killed in Egypt’s attack.

Egypt’s and France’s presidents are calling for a meeting of the United Nations Security Council while Italy has warned that the Libya crisis requires “wisdom, understanding and prudence”. Egypt’s foreign minister is currently in New York to call for an international intervention.

Speaking on ONE TV, Egyptian ambassador to Malta Magda Baraka said the mass beheading could not go ignored: “What happened to those Egyptians could not go without retaliation. This is not only an Egyptian problem. Countries on the front line – southern EU countries, Egypt and even Tunisia – need to work together to sort the situation out.”

Asked what she hoped would be achieved from a Washington meeting on terrorism set to be attened by 20 countries, Baraka was similarly direct.

“We will dialogue with those who want dialogue but those who do not need to be tackled properly,” she said. “The force of the UN is much stronger than that of the militias. Those who enforce their will against coexistence will have to be isolated and dealt with.”

Malta, Italy urge EU to give Libya the attention it merits

Foreign Affairs Minister George Vella was in Rome yesterday morning where he held a meeting with Italian minister Paolo Gentiloni on the latest developments in Libya. 

The two sides also discussed the different scenarios that could develop in the prevailing circumstances.

According to a statement issued by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, “the phenomenon of the spread of ISIS jihadists as well as the issue of migration featured high on the list of topics discussed”. 

“Both ministers agreed that the situation needed constant monitoring and expressed hope that the efforts of the UN special envoy Bernardino Leon would lead to all relevant factions in Libya coming together to achieve continual peace, stability and security under the leadership of a national unity government,” the ministry’s statement read.

The ministers also expressed hope that the ongoing discussions at the UN Security Council would succeed to sensitise world opinion on the situation in Libya.

Vella and Gentiloni agreed to keep constant contact and strive together to raise more awareness of the Libyan problem within the European Union.

“The message being that besides the problem of Ukraine the EU has also an equally serious problem to tackle, which is Libya,” the ministry said.

For its part, Alternattiva Demokratika called on Malta and Italy to work closely with Egypt and France on UN-mandated intervention. 

In a media release in reaction to reports in which IS allegedly warned Italy that if attacked “they would send over 500,000 migrants to Italy”, AD chairman Arnold Cassola said the situation was becoming “really dangerous”. 

“Unilateral intervention is certainly not conducive to solving the present situation. Now that the French and Egyptian governments have asked for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss the situation in Libya, it is important that the Maltese and Italian governments, that have already asked for a UN mandated intervention in Libya, step up their diplomatic efforts with the international community to ensure that the UN takes urgent decisions on this serious threat to civilization,” Cassola said.