Tue 21 May 2019:
Libya’s descent into a proxy war appeared to deepen after forces loyal to the internationally recognized government said they’d received a shipment of foreign weapons, weeks after announcing Turkey would help them fend off an assault on the capital by strongman Khalifa Haftar. The forces published pictures on their official Facebook page of what appeared to be Turkish-made Kirpi combat vehicles. They also said in the posting that they had received ammunition and “quality weapons.”
Libya is under a United Nations arms embargo, but allegations have flown that foreign backers have armed forces loyal to both Haftar and Prime Minister Fayyaz Al-Sarraj’s government in Tripoli as they compete for influence in the strategic North African OPEC state. The intervention by foreign powers has heightened fears of a prolonged proxy war that could devastate the capital. The country descended into chaos after longtime leader Moammar Qaddafi was removed and killed in an uprising in 2011. It’s been ruled since 2014 by two feuding administrations in Tripoli and the east as well as dozens of regional militias. The turmoil has provided fertile ground for the rise of militants including Islamic State, and Haftar’s declared reason for consolidating power is a self-proclaimed war on terrorism.
A spokesman for Sarraj’s government, Mohanad Younes, told reporters earlier in May that Turkey and other countries would be delivering military and humanitarian assistance to counter foreign backing for Haftar’s Libyan National Army. Weapons have reached Haftar from Egypt, according to the UN, and his forces have also used Chinese-manufactured precision guided Blue Arrow missiles sold to the United Arab Emirates, according to experts who examined missile remnants.
“Fears of a proxy war are very well founded,” Stephanie Williams, deputy UN envoy to Libya, told Bloomberg in an interview earlier this month. “The indications are worrying about shipments coming in to both sides from a variety of sources.”
Earlier this month, a Tripoli government spokesman said his administration was talking to its ally Turkey to obtain “anything that is needed to stop the assault,” including military and civilian help.
The LNA, which is allied to a rival administration in eastern Libya, launched an offensive to control Tripoli in early April. As the fighting drags on, 75,000 people have fled their homes and 126 civilians have been killed, according to the latest UN figures. Since 2014, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt have provided the LNA with military equipment such as aircraft and helicopters, helping Haftar to gain the upper hand in Libya’s eight-year conflict, according to previous UN reports. It also enjoys the support of Saudi Arabia, Russia and France, despite the UN recognising the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) as the legitimate authority in the country.
Turkey and Qatar are at loggerheads with the UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia over several regional issues including support for the Muslim Brotherhood. The GNA and the Turkish Embassy could not immediately be reached for comment.
Offensive Stalled
The offensive on Tripoli, which has killed more than 400 people since it began in early April, has ground to a halt on the city’s outskirts as pressure from the UN and Europe mounts for a truce. “We have a sense of the fierce urgency of now trying to stop this and broker at the very minimum a humanitarian truce,” Williams said. Officials say neither side is prepared for a cease-fire. Haftar met Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Thursday and is expected to meet French President Emmanuel Macron this week.
Abdullah Thinni, the rival prime minister in the east who’s affiliated with Haftar, told the Al-Hurra broadcaster on Friday that the LNA would be willing to accept a cease-fire without withdrawing from Tripoli’s outskirts, a condition Sarraj has rejected. The LNA, which took control of the east and the south before attacking Tripoli, had predicted a quick victory in the capital when it first launched its campaign. Haftar wants at least a foothold in Tripoli before accepting a truce, a diplomat with knowledge of the matter said.
The U.A.E.’s minister of state for foreign affairs, Anwar Gargash, accused “extremist militias” in Tripoli of seeking control, and called for “immediate de-escalation” in an opinion piece published Sunday in the Abu Dhabi-based National newspaper.
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