LIBYA: TWO POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS AND SEVERAL ISSUES
There
aren't that many options left to solve the Libyan crisis: either a
negotiated solution is found and a government of national unity
formed or yet another international military intervention will be
necessary. One way or the other, there is such a high level of
social disintegration and chaos in Libya that diplomacy will not
suffice and weapons will have to speak.
Despite the efforts of UN's mediator Martin Kobler, the ongoing
peace talks face two major issues:
- Time: the advance of the ISIS is becoming dangerous and negotiations can't continue forever;
-
Consensus: any agreement will have to obtain the true, and not
just formal, consent of all parties, or it will be pointless.
If this will not to happen in the near future, a military
intervention, similar to the one that ousted Muammar Gaddafi in
2011, will become necessary. The UN Security Council has already
approved, on December 23, 2015, Resolution 2259 that authorizes an
anti-terrorism military intervention in Libya if requested by the
local government. What if there is no national unity executive?
The UN will likely be able to find a representation that will fit
its needs. Regardless of the UN Resolution, Chapter VII of the UN
Statute still allows the use of force if dictated by
circumstances.
Winds of war
As time passes, the military solution becomes inevitable. The ISIS
is expanding in Libya, as the Italian Minister of Defense Roberta
Pinotti has said. Italian warplanes have been placed in Sicily,
surveillance flights take place every day, isolated bombings on
islamist militias by unspecified forces (probably French) have
already been carried out, and there is talk of US and British
special forces boots on the ground. Slowly but surely, diplomacy
is leaving room for an armed intervention.
Italy, geographically in the first line, faces two issues:
preventing terrorism from taking root in a country across its
coasts and stopping the endless flow of migrants coming from a
country adrift. It is hence clear that, no matter which option is
picked, Italy will have to play a primary role.
The terms of any intervention will have to be agreed with a
national Libyan government. Without such a request or
authorization, any action would risk being illegitimate –
regardless of a UN Resolution granting it – and would require
having a political solution already in place in the aftermath of
the conflict. But if the latter is hard to find prior to an armed
intervention and despite the ongoing negotiations, it will be even
more difficult to broker one after a war.
Fayez Sarraj
Cui prodest?
In other words, we should understand who we want to fight for and
to who the country will be delivered to after an international
military action. There is no easy answer to these questions as
Libya is now a country where everyone fights against everybody
else. The sole institution keeping the country together is the
Central Bank, which regularly pays its salaries to all the
militias. Furthermore, the lack of consensus around an operation
would imply that the forces on the ground would face both the ISIS
and a portion of Libyans. Ideally, the war on terrorism should be
dealt by Libyan land forces with international support and aerial
bombardments.
The second issue is coordination. Once again France is overly
active and, as has happened during the war to oust Gaddafi, it is
acting without waiting for the outcome of the negotiations. The
French recently assisted the Egyptian Rafale planes as they bombed
islamist militias. Russia is also taking its first moves on its
own. Without a proper international coordination, the
effectiveness of the intervention will be hampered, as shown in
Syria and Iraq.
Any political or military solution to the Libyan quagmire faces a
number of internal hurdles. The Presidency Council, whose role is
to lead to a government of national unity and that is currently
led by Fayez Sarraj, is blocked by a series of vetoes and is the
target of endless bargainings. The latter has not been able to
move to Tripoli yet due to security concerns and despite the
agreement signed by all parties in December 2015 in Morocco.
Everyone theoretically agrees on the need to reconstitute a
unitary state, but, regardless of this, every actor binds this
objective to personal interests and ambitions. As mentioned, time
is playing a crucial role.
The enemy advances
The ISIS in Libya has an estimated 5/6.000 combatants. The
majority – around 70% – are foreign fighters, mainly from the
Maghreb and Tunisia, while the Libyan component can rely on the
support of a bunch of Gaddafi loyalists, similarly to Iraq where
former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party led the insurgency.
The islamists are expanding the areas under their rule and getting
closer to the oil fields, probably to destroy them. They can rely
on heavy weapons and have a portion of the coastline under their
control for potential traffics of both men and weapons. The more
the Libyan factions in-fight, the stronger the ISIS.
The Libyan branch of the Islamic State was created by Abu Bakr al
Baghdadi. He sent out one of his most trusted men to establish it.
Abu Nabil al Anbari, aka Abu Mughirah al Qahtani, is an Iraqi
former police officer turned terrorist during the time of Abu
Musab al Zarqawi. He was arrested in 2004 and held in Camp Bucca
where he met al Baghdadi. When the Caliphate was formed, al Anbari
was appointed Wali, governor, of the Salaheddin Province. He was
killed in a US air strike last December near Derna. He was
replaced by another Iraqi: Abu Ali al Anbari. The latter has been
a militant extremist since 2002 and is one of the Caliphs
commanders and one of its “diplomats” capable of brokering deals
with local tribesmen. The choice of these two men underlines the
importance Libya has and will have for al Baghdadi. Along the same
lines are the comments of Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint
Chief of Staffs and General Joseph Votel, head of Centcom.
The main base for the operations of the ISIS is in Nawfaliyah,
close to Ben Jawad, while the command seems to be in Sirte, with
its 50 thousand inhabitants the biggest town under their control.
As part of their modus operandi, the Islamic State has signed
deals with the local population, imposed its laws and rules and
killed any opposition. Wherever they go, they try to set up a
state. What they did in Sirte was transform a Libyan bank into an
Islamic bank. The ISIS in Libya can rely on the help of Ansar al
Sharia and its 3/4.000 men, the Shura Council of Benghazi
Revolutionaries, the Shura Council of Mujaheddin in Derna and
several other fanatic Islamic factions.
Ahmed Gaddafi
The chemical threat
As the terrorists advance, another unsolved issue resurfaces: the
stockpile of chemical agents and weapons left behind by the
Gaddafi regime and that the ISIS could potentially get its hands
on, as some recent articles suggest. Gaddafi's cousin, Ahmed,
seems to support this scenario. We wrote about this specific issue
in the past (“Invisible Dog #15”, March 2013), as we have
evidence of the stock of chemicals that were hidden by the Libyan
dictator while he negotiated with the international community.
Today, groups of loyalists could decide to hands these stockpiles
to the ISIS.
Furthermore, someone is trying to get the Rabta chemical plant
back on its feet and has started to contact experts abroad. It is
unclear who is behind this and what they want. The person leading
this effort is Ahmed Hesnawi, the man behind Libya's chemical
weapons program under Gaddafi and one of the opponents of a deal
to dismantle the chemical arsenal. A Serbian national is currently
aiding him.
