The US Associated Press (AP) has published a report about the the Libyan crisis and the focus of the UN on it, explaining three points complicating the status quo.
AP said that Libya’s Head of Presidential Council Fayez Al-Sarraj represented only part of the country when he addressed the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, saying his government has been battling for months to keep control of the capital, Tripoli, in a battle against the Libyan National Army.
:Extremists, including those from the Islamic State group, have exploited the unrest to expand their reach. With a long coastline on the Mediterranean, Libya also has become a major transit point for migrants seeking to escape conflict, persecution and poverty.” The report says.
The report added that with a look at the devastation in Libya and its wider effects, it can sum it up as:
The current situation
The report indicated that Libya remains fractured after descending into chaos in 2011, saying Al-Sarraj’s government is a weak administration that holds Tripoli and parts of the west.
Khalifa Haftar has presented himself as a strong leader who can unify the country. Yet, despite being the largest and best-organized force, the LNA hasn’t made significant progress in Tripoli.” The report added.
It explained that outside support adds fuel to the conflict in Tripoli, saying the prolongation of the fighting and delay of LNA’s entry to Tripoli raises fears of a protracted conflict descending into a new civil war.
How it started
After Muammar Gaddafi He was eventually killed in October 2011, Libya held elections the next year, but the government was powerless to control the many militias, and the country’s democratic transition stalled. A loose alliance of militias seized Tripoli in 2014 after their rivals won disputed parliamentary elections, the report says.
It adds that in 2015, the UN backed the formation of a transitional government in Tripoli led by Al-Sarraj, a technocrat with no military experience, saying his government has proven incapable of achieving stability or of winning support from its rivals.
Human toll
The World Health Organization said at least 1,000 people have been killed, including 106 civilians in the fighting around Tripoli, adding that it also displaced more than 105,000 people.
