International actors

Following UN Security Council approval on 14 June to inspect vessels off the coast of Libya, EU foreign ministers agreed at talks in Luxembourg on 20 June to extend Operation Sophia to July 2017, and tasked it with supporting Libya’s coast guard and navy. At a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on 15 June, special envoy for Libya Jonathan Winer told the committee that the Obama administration seeks to support the Government of National Accord (GNA) with a $56 million aid package.

Despite the steady advance on Sirte by the Bunyan Marsus coalition, there were no significant actions taken by the Western international community last week. Most notably, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution to extend the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) mandate to December 15, 2016, and encouraged UNSMIL to re-establish a permanent presence in the country.

The European Union (EU) is pushing for increased authority to enforce the existing embargo on arms shipments Libya. Speaking to the UN Security Council on 6 June, EU Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini urged members to authorize EU naval operations in the Mediterranean Sea “to enforce the UN arms embargo on the high seas, off the coast of Libya.”

International support has also been key to this week’s explosion of momentum on the western front against ISIS… The spokesperson of the Government of National Accord’s (GNA) Sirte Operations Room said they have started to receive financial and logistical support from the GNA and other countries.

Last week, US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford said that the Government of National Accord (GNA) is in a “period of intense dialogue” that could soon lead to an agreement in which US military advisers will be deployed to Libya, in addition to Special Forces already in the country. Following a request by GNA Prime Minister Fayez Serraj on 23 May, the European Union agreed to step up its naval operations off the coast of Libya.

This week, Western powers opted to loosen their policies toward Libya in order to support the Government of National Accord (GNA) and combat the expansion of ISIS.  At a meeting in Vienna on 16 May, the US and its European and regional partners agreed to supply the GNA with weapons, aimed at preventing ISIS fighters […]

This week, British and Italian leaders contemplated the possibility of providing military support to the Government of National Accord (GNA), but have maintained that the conditions for an international intervention are not yet favourable. Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said that talks on providing assistance to the GNA would take place in Vienna (not Rome) on […]

During a Senate Armed Forces Committee hearing on 28 April, US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Joseph Dunford said the US has moved surveillance drones into Libyan airspace to gather intelligence and to prepare for the potential of additional airstrikes against ISIS.  At a press conference on 3 May, Dunford also said that US AFRICOM […]

UN Special Envoy Martin Kobler called for western forces to help combat ISIS in partnership with the Government of National Accord (GNA). Kobler said foreign powers should offer training and military support, combined with an end to the UN arms embargo. “The Daesh expansion can only be stopped militarily,” he said. “There is a consensus […]