Libyans puzzled over settlement of their country's crisis

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Three days after Libya recorded its first confirmed case of coronavirus infection in the midst of violent armed clashes, the population remains perplexed about the way to find a way out of the crisis while the military escalation has taken on great proportions in recent days.
 
The launch by the government of national accord of a new military operation to deal with the continued firing of shells and missiles targeting residential areas and civilians in Tripoli, has fueled the tension.
 
The country has embarked on a new spiral of violence in the past 24 hours with a resumption of clashes on all fronts in the south of Tripoli and in the West region.
 
On Wednesday, the Presidential Council of the GNA announced the launch of a new  operation called 'Peace Storm' to counter attacks targeting civilians in the districts of Tripoli.

The areas are subjected to almost daily shells and missile fire landing on homes while the people in confinement in compliance with the measures taken to prevent coronavirus.
 
Several people were killed and others injured as a result of the random shells dropped on areas of Tripoli and its outskirts.
 
The Acting Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Libya, Stephanie Williams, condemned the bombing of Aïn Zara area, south of Tripoli, attributed to the Libyan National Army. 

The bombing resulted in "the death of at least three people and wounded others."

There were until last Saturday, 13 violations of the humanitarian truce, requested by several western countries and the European Union and the United Nations.

The GNA's newly launched operation manifested itself in an attack on Al-Wattia airbase, in the southwest, controlled by the LNA and which is considered the centerpiece of the missile and attacks targeting the districts of Tripoli.
 
GNA President Fayez Al-Sarraj said on Wednesday that this operation was part of "self-defence", stressing that as a civil and legitimate government its duty is to defend the population against any aggression in accordance with international law.
 
The situation proves that Libya is facing a deadlock since the resumption of its political process after the Berlin Conference of January 19, giving rise to three strands of talks relating to the economy, politics and military under the auspices of the United Nations.
 
Obstacles encountered in the inter-Libyan dialogue led to the resignation on March 2 of UN envoy Ghassan Salamé.

The fact that the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres has not yet designated a successor to Salamé demonstrates, according to analysts, the persistence of the deadlock in the Libyan case.
 
Libyan university professor Abdelati Al-Rekik said that "all foreign mediation in Libya has not resulted in a settlement in the country", adding that "the different plans of the UN mediation of the various emissaries of the Secretary General since 2011 have led to dead ends towards the end of their journey."
 
According to Al-Rekik, "it is not only foreign interference which explains these failures in mediation, but also a certain ignorance of Libyans and their character, as well as reality and antagonisms in the country".

It is considered "necessary for the international community and, in particular, the United Nations to ensure a better choice of UN mediators by emphasizing their knowledge of the Libyans and the region and of the existing political balances".

The academic suggested that "the next envoy should have served as diplomat in Libya for a long time to gain experience on the way of life and the social and ethnic organization of the components of the country, because it is on this that his/her success depends. "                     

But for Mohamed Saber Al-Zuei, Libyan political analyst, "the failures of foreign mediation in Libya are caused by external interference and the maneuvers of certain regional and international powers involved in Libyan affairs, which constantly torpedo them by putting pressure on their local foes to refuse to accept such or such agreement or to make such or such concessions."
 
Al-Zuei cited, as an example "Haftar's last-minute refusal to sign the January 12 ceasefire deal in Moscow obtained through Turkish-Russian mediation". He said that "undoubtedly the signing of the cease-fire did not help the affairs of Haftar's supporters, in particular Egypt and the Emirates, which have interests to defend in Libya."
 
He also recalled "the call for a humanitarian truce, which was accepted only by lip service and in a formal manner by Haftar, as his forces continued to fire on residential areas in Tripoli and to mobilize troops and military equipment to launch a new attack on western cities, notably Zouara."
 
In addition, despite the repercussions of the political deadlock which inevitably leads to a military escalation due to the blockages of any peaceful outcome, the new risks that the country faces with the appearance of a case of Coronavirus infection have had no impact on the belligerent's willingness to continue the fighting.
 
Despite the appeal by the UN Secretary- General to the actors in the conflict in Libya to observe a truce due to COVID-19, in order to give citizens the opportunity to have access to healthcare and aid, and the efforts of local authorities to counter the spread of the epidemic.
 
In this regard, the International Rescue Committee in Libya has warned "against the devastating effects of the virus on the country in the light of the continuation of the military conflict and of the weakness of the health system," calling on" the international community to provide funding to the Libyan authorities to be able to face the pandemic".            

As an international organization with field representation in Libya, the Committee stressed that "although the virus has been declared a global pandemic, there is no indication on the horizon that a cease-fire will be implemented, with the ''significant escalation of hostilities in recent days".
 
Voices have started to rise in Libya asking the warring parties to take into account the  phase the country is going through because of the coronavirus and to put an end to the clashes to help counter the pandemic.
 
A group of 19 Libyan personalities from medical circles, universities and civil society activists, have appealed for unity of efforts and putting the lives of citizens above all other considerations. They urged opposing sides to collaborate through their institutions to exchange information and coordination to ensure the control of this disease in view of the weakness of the country's health system.
 
With the containment measures imposed by the Libyan authorities and the restrictions on assemblies, the Libyans have turned to their preferred means of expression, in this case, social networks, to express concerns and give each other advice and news with a predilection for videos on Facebook.
 
HT, a photographer with pure international agencies in Libya, revealed that "the announcement of the first case of infection has given rise to panic among many Libyans since there was little information initially, on the patient, his region and the place where he is."
 
He added that "this has given rise to the wildest rumours about the area where he is located and the possibility that he has infected large numbers of people", noting that "many Libyans still lack awareness with regard to the coronavirus".
 
Referring to confinement, he deplored that "some people do not comply with preventive measures and instructions from health services which encourage citizens to avoid regrouping and stay at home".        

Sketching a solution to the Libyan crisis, he said that "it can only be Libyan-Libyan by overcoming their differences to take into account the interest of the country".
 
He proposed that "the attacking troops withdraw to their previous positions in the east of the country before the offensive on April 4", ensuring that "we cannot negotiate under bombs with the incessant shelling and missiles."
 
For him, everyone agrees to form a unified army and security organs, but this must be done with the agreement of all parties concerned, "proposing" a meeting of officers from the three regions of the East, West and Center to form the nucleus of an army to secure the country."
 
Faced with repeated failure of foreign mediation, the Libyans hope that an agreement among them without outside interference can bring a settlement to the crisis in the country.
-0- PANA BY/IS/KND/AR 27March2020