UN calls for calm after mobilization of armed groups around Tripoli

A s Libya is in the midst of a political crisis, with two competing governments claiming executive power, the UN has warned against any ” provocation “, Thursday March 10, following information on a mobilization of armed groups around the capital, Tripoli.

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (Manul) said it “follows with concern the information on the mobilization of armed groups and convoys” military, which “increases tensions in Tripoli and its surroundings”. She renewed her “call for calm” and underlined “the importance of preserving stability”urging “all parties to refrain from any action likely to lead to armed clashes”.

“I urge restraint and to refrain from any provocation, in words and deeds, including the mobilization of forces” armies, tweeted Stephanie Williams, the UN secretary general’s envoy for Libya. On March 4, Mr.^me Williams had proposed mediation between rival camps to facilitate the holding of elections, the postponement of which in December has deepened divisions in the country.

Pickups and machine guns

La Manul on Thursday urged Libyan rivals to “cooperate” with M^me Williams in this mediation, “in order to reach a negotiated solution to the crisis”. US Ambassador to Libya Richard Norland took to Twitter to support “fully the message of Manul” and called on the various Libyan protagonists to “seize the opportunity to seek a political solution rather than risk an escalation”.

Already undermined by divisions between competing institutions in the east and west, Libya has found itself since early March with two rival governments, as it was between 2014 and 2021, then in the midst of a civil war after the overthrow of the Muammar Gaddafi regime. A government formed by former interior minister Fathi Bachagha, endorsed by the parliament sitting in the east, competes with the incumbent cabinet in Tripoli, born out of the UN-sponsored political accords and led by Abdelhamid Dbeibah , who refuses to cede power.

Mr. Bachagha has still not been able to install his government in the capital. But images and videos of convoys of militia vehicles that would be loyal to him, mobilized east of Tripoli and probably preparing their entry into the capital, circulated on social networks on Thursday. At the level of the so-called “27 kilometer” roadblock, at the western entrance to Tripoli, dozens of pick-ups equipped with machine guns and medium and light weapons were parked in line on the coastal road, according to a journalist from the AFP.