Libya, the impossible resolution

(To Maria Grazia Labellarte)
18/06/15

The UN resolution for the intervention in Libya authorizing the use of force against migrant trafficking seems impossible, the head of EU diplomacy, Federica Mogherini, asked for UN support for the resolution last May, for counter the traffickers, drafted by the EU members of the Security Council (United Kingdom, France, Lithuania and Spain), authorizing the use of force in Libyan territorial waters.

The document requires the go-ahead of the Libyan government, which has sent its own representative to Brussels, but has already excluded the hypothetical solution.

The draft resolution originally provided for operations in territorial waters, in national waters, and even in ports, if necessary, to make the boats non-operational. Russia, in principle, had raised objections as it feared that the use of force could pave the way for a new war in the Mediterranean. The current detention of this resolution is due to the fact that the consent of local authorities is needed, a consensus that arises in a complicated way.

Actually, in Libya there are two factions fighting each other: the recognized government of Tobruk and the Islamic one that in fact controls Tripoli and a large part of the territory from where the boats leave.

Given the direct and indirect links with Isis and other radical Islamic factions, the groups that control Tripoli have no interest in making this agreement, or in accepting the mediation of the UN envoy Berardino Leon, for a government of national unity.

Tobruk would like the support of the international community and support his offensive to win back the entire country. The premises for the agreement are therefore unattainable.

However, the UN envoy Bernardino Leon, from the American-Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar, affirms that most of the factions "now supports a political solution" reiterating that there can not be "military solution" to the crisis, because none of the parts "is strong enough to win". In fact, as already mentioned, on the front of the fight against human traffickers who manage the migratory flows on the Libyan coasts, the Tobruk authorities continue to express their opposition to a UN resolution that gives the green light to the European military plan.

"Libya's position is clear - the Libyan ambassador to the UN, Ibrahim Dabbashi (photo), told the France press - until the European Union and some other countries discuss it with the legitimate government, as the only representative of the Libyan people, there will be no consensus on our part ".