By Jamal Jawhar
Libyans are looking forward to listen to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s plan, which he will propose before the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, to end the Libyan crisis.
Political parties reacted to the declaration of UN Envoy to Libya Ghassan Salameh on a “road map” presented by Guterres to the General Assembly, including the amendment of the Skhirat Agreement signed in Morocco in December 2015, in addition to carrying out wide elections with a number of necessary transitional stages.
Salameh’s road map also includes downsizing the current nine-member presidential council to just three and appointing a prime minister with the task of supervising a parallel government of the council, according to Italian newspaper La Stampa.
Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Authority of the National Forces Alliance in Libya Asma Sariba told Asharq Al-Awsat that the military operations in the country are not a solution to our problems, and “we believe that dialogue has become a necessity to end the Libyan crisis.”
“We, Libyans, take responsibility for the intervention of foreign countries in our crisis.”
“The Skhirat agreement faces many objections from the political forces due to the composition of the presidential council, and they are talking about Article (8) of the political agreement and believe they need to amend it”.
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Other important developments
Libya Agreement changes to be unveiled by UN
Pressing amendments to the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA) will be revealed at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York today.
Presidency Council (PC) head Fayez Al-Sarraj will attend the meeting as the head of a 60-strong delegation from Libya.
Al-Sarraj will also attend planned meetings during his stay in New York after the main discussions with new UNSMIL chief Ghassan Salamé where the changes to the LPA will be formally unveiled.
The LPA was signed in Morocco in 2015 as a binding agreement to help end the fighting in Libya that spiralled out of control after the uprising against former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
Some of the changes that are expected to be unveiled today include downsizing the PC from nine members to three and creating a separate government.
Salamé is also expected to propose removing the controversial clause 8 in the agreement which removes the power from the House of Representatives (HoR) to appoint top military commanders and heads of key institutions such as the Central Bank of Libya and the Libyan Investment Authority and instead places it at the hands of the Presidential Council (PC).
New elections for both the HoR and the PC will be a priority in moving forward but for Libyans the process will be observed with trepidation with fears a new body could create more divisions in the country.
Al-Sarraj and rival leader Khalifa Haftar met last in Paris two months ago in which they agreed to hold early elections in 2018, a truce and a newly formed army representative of all of Libya.
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Egypt to restructure Libya’s army under Haftar’s command
Egypt yesterday announced the reorganisation of the Libyan National Army, which is affiliated to the Tobruk-based House of Representatives in the east of the country, under the command of Brigadier General Khalifa Haftar.
In a statement, Egyptian army spokesman, Tamer Al-Rifai, said Egyptian Chief of Staff Mahmoud Hijazi received a Libyan military delegation in Cairo.
Al-Rifai said: “The members of the Libyan military institution
Al-Rifai said: “The members of the Libyan military institution [who he did not name] chose Egypt to be the starting point for the reorganisation of the Libyan army, in the framework of Egyptian efforts to end the state of division and unify the Libyan army.”
On more than one occasion, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi announced that his country supports the Libyan National Army led by Khalifa Haftar.
The Egyptian military statement said: “The Libyan military delegation discussed with the Egyptian committee all stages of the crisis faced by the military institution in Libya throughout the past seven years.”
The Libyan delegation emphasised their “commitment to establish a modern, democratic and civil state based on the principles of peaceful transfer of power, consensus and acceptance of the other as well as the rejection of all forms of marginalisation and exclusion of any of the Libyan parties.”
This is in addition to “working on the unity of the Libyan military institution and on the Libyan army’s responsibility to maintain the security and sovereignty of the state, as well as to combat extremism, terrorism and reject foreign interference in Libyan affairs,” according to the statement.
The participants agreed to “form joint technical committees to discuss the mechanisms of unifying the military institution in Libya and to study all the matters that could support this.”
The statement pointed out that these committees will hold meetings in Cairo soon to discuss the technical details.
Since the overthrow of the longtime Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in a popular uprising in 2011, Libya has been involved in a power struggle which has led to security chaos. There are currently three governments in the country with Haftar heading one in Benghazi, the UN-backed Government of National Accord in Tripoli headed by Prime Minister Fayez Al-Sarraj, and the Tobruk-based government of Abdullah Al-Thini.
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Italy begins training Libyan navy and coastguard
Italy yesterday received 87 Libyan navy and coastguard personnel as part of a European training programme aimed at improving Libya’s capabilities to combat smuggling and human trafficking across the Mediterranean.
“The training of Libyan navy and coastguard officers will take place at the Italian Taranto’s Petty Officer Academy,” the Italian state television reported.
A statement by the EU-led Naval Operation “Sophia” said: “The objective of the training is to increase the security of Libyan territorial waters, implementing the capacities of the Libyan Coastguard and Navy to perform their duties, thus enhancing the capacity in basics of maritime security skills, including search and rescue activities to save lives and to disrupt smuggling and trafficking from/to Libyan shores.”
According to the statement, the training will last until November and will include “technical topics related to the navigation activities, International Maritime Law, Search and Rescue doctrine, International Human Rights Law, Asylum request procedure, First Aid and medical care at sea and Public Information.”
The training is conducted in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2016 by Commander of the EU-led Naval Operation (Sophia), Rear Admiral (UH) Enrico and Commander of the Libyan Coastguard, Commodore Abdallah Toumia.
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