International actors

On Wednesday 14 January, multilateral direct UN-backed negotiations started in Geneva, despite the last minute boycott of the Martyr’s bloc which was misrepresented in the media as a boycott of the whole rump GNC.

Italy’s PM Matteo Renzi opened the door to a UN-sanctioned peacekeeping mission in Libya should negotiations fail. It is unclear what impact, if any, will this week’s terrorist attack in Paris have over France’s already pro-active policy in Libya.

There was no overt Western response to jihadi activity in Libya this week.

Although UNSMIL’s Chief Bernardino Leon and Libya’s Western partners continue to staunchly promote the undertaking of negotiations to follow up on the Ghadames process, hardly any positive developments have emerged from the country during the past week.

Unsurprisingly given the ongoing violence, including in the oil crescent, the UN-sponsored peace talks that were planned for 16 December did not go ahead.

The future of the UN-sponsored peace talks known as the Ghadames II dialogue is still uncertain. The talks had been due to go ahead on 9 December but were postponed at the last moment and rescheduled for 16 December.

UN Special Representative to Libya, Bernardino Leon has continued his efforts this week to try to bring Libya’s warring parties together and to convince them to participate in the next round of UN-sponsored peace talks.

UN Special Representative to Libya, Bernardino Leon, has continued in his efforts to try to bring Libya’s rival factions together in what he hopes will be a Ghadames Meeting Mark Two.

No Western Response this week.

Libya’s political scene remains deeply divided with last week’s Supreme Court ruling leaving both sides more entrenched than ever.

As ISIS has firmly established itself in Derna and announced that presences to the world, the West made no response and HoR PM Thinni, resolutely refused to deal with those he dismisses as “terrorists”.

The Algerian initiative appears to be dead on the vine as there doesn’t seem to be any official pronouncements about it.

The US along with the UK, France, Italy and Germany issued a joint statement this week condemning the violence in Libya and calling on all parties to agree on a ceasefire.

Algeria’s bid to host a Libyan national reconciliation initiative is gathering momentum. Algeria has been trying for some time to sponsor peace talks between Libya’s warring parties, viewing this as a preferable option to some kind of military intervention.

The UNSMIL sponsored peace talks went ahead in Ghadames on 29 September and surprisingly heralded an agreement of sorts. Operation Libya Dawn made clear its objections to the talks right from the start calling on those boycotters of the House to suspend their participation in the dialogue.

The United Nations is sponsoring peace talks in Ghadames this week.

News this week that Haftar has received 8 military jets that were sent abroad for reconditioning suggests that he has no intention of giving up the fight.

The international community looks highly unlikely to respond to French calls for mobilisation as Syria overshadows Libya.

The Libyan government accused Sudan this week of providing military support to Operation Libya Dawn forces in the capital.

No Western Response to jihadist in Libya was logged this week.

Libya’s neighbours held another ministerial level meeting on 25 August in Cairo in a bid to come up with a plan to resolve the crisis in Libya. The meeting was attended by the foreign ministers of Libya, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Sudan and Chad, and others.

There was no overt Western response to jihadi activity in Libya this week.

The United Nations (UN) responded positively to a request by the House of Representatives this week to oversee the brokering of a ceasefire in the capital. A UN delegation, led by Special Representative Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, has begun talks with the main parties in the conflict, as well as with officers from the Libyan army.

Western entities did not take action on Libya this week.

Tripoli remains engulfed in fighting, with the violence continuing to overshadow the formal political process. Many Western countries, including the US, have evacuated their embassies and advised their citizens to leave Libya.

House of Representatives (HoR) Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdulaziz requested that the UN Security Council dispatch experts to train Libya’s defence forces and police eliciting condemnation from some for appearing to invite foreign forces into the conflict.

United Kingdom Special Envoy to Libya Jonathan Powell, along with his US and UN counterparts, are devising a new strategy to mediate between Libya’s warring factions. HoR Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni had a meeting with EU, UK, US, and UN ambassadors and envoys, during which he accused Westerners of destroying the Libyan military, while also requesting peacekeeping forces to protect Libyan government institutions.

There was no Western Response this week.

Tarek Mitri, head of UNSMIL, congratulated the High National Election Commission on a well-run election, indicating that the Libyan election was not bought or stolen at the ballot box.

The U.S. military captured Ahmed Abu Khatallah in Benghazi and the UNSMIL reconciliation meeting between Libya’s opposing coalitions was indefinitely postponed.

On 6 June, UNSMIL Representative Tarek Mitri announced the UN’s support for a Libyan national dialogue, which would bring together some of the country’s most influential actors to settle long-divisive issues.