"Libya was on the verge of descending into a civil war" – Head of UNSMIL

"Libya was on the verge of descending into a civil war" – Head of UNSMIL

UN Special Representative for Libya Ghassan Salamé said the country was “on the verge of descending into a civil war which could lead to the permanent division of the country” adding that damage already done would “take years to mend, and that’s only if the war is ended now.”

Addressing the Security Council in New York today (21 May), Salamé said “Forty-eight days into the attack on Tripoli by General Haftar’s forces, there has already been too much death and destruction,” with more than 460 people dead, 2400 injured, and over 75,000 displaced.

The Special Representative added that the conditions for migrants and refugees in Libya were already dire prior to the conflict. These conditions have now gone from bad to worse. Nearly 3,400 refugees and migrants are trapped in detention centres exposed to, or in close proximity to, the current fighting.

Salamé noted that the security vacuum created by the withdrawal of many of General Haftar’s troops from the south, coupled with the focus of the western forces on the defense of the capital, is already being “exploited by Da’esh and Al-Qaeda.” He said, “I am no Cassandra, but the violence on the outskirts of Tripoli is just the start of a long and bloody war on the southern shores of the Mediterranean, imperilling the security of Libya’s immediate neighbours and the wider Mediterranean region.”

The Special Representative requested that the Security Council members urge the silencing of the guns and that the warring parties to engage with the UN Mission to ensure a full and comprehensive cessation of hostilities and a return to an inclusive UN-led political process.

He underlined that arms were pouring into the country to all sides in a blatant breach of the arms embargo, adding that “Without a robust enforcement mechanism, the arms embargo into Libya will become a cynical joke. Some nations are fuelling this bloody conflict; the United Nations should put an end to it.”

Related Post: