By Lisa Schlein, GENEVA Swiss
United Nations mediated
political talks aimed at resolving the crisis in Libya have ended in disarray,
with nothing accomplished except an agreement to meet again next month.
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| Boys stand near a damaged house after shells fell on a residential area, in Abu Slim district, south of Tripoli, Libya, Feb. 28, 2020. |
The talks got off to a shambolic start. Before
the first round of Libyan political negotiations even began, members of
opposition warring groups suspended their participation. U.N. envoy to Libya
Ghassan Salame acknowledged that this caught him off guard.
"We were surprised the day the meeting was
supposed to start that some people had to leave because they were asked
to. However, those who stayed decided that the occasion was too rare and
precious and therefore that the political track should start with those who
stayed in Geneva,” Salame said.
Libya has been in a state of crisis ever since
rebel military commander Khalifa Haftar attacked Tripoli last April. The
military assault on the capital and seat of the internationally recognized
Government of National Accord has killed more than 1,000 people and displaced
hundreds of thousands.
The
U.N. has been pursuing three parallel negotiations. The resolution of Libya’s
crisis hangs on the continuation and outcome of those military, economic and
political tracks.
Salame said the economic-financial track is
going well. But the military track is in trouble because the warring
parties continue to violate a temporary cease-fire. That, he said, is
having a serious effect on the political negotiations.
During the past week, he said, many areas have
been hit by shelling, including the Tripoli airport.
"Many areas of the capital have been also shelled. It is clear that
neither one of the three tracks can move positively while the cannon is doing
what it is doing right now,” he said.
Salame is calling on the two sides to respect
the truce they had accepted last month during a summit in Berlin. He also is
calling on countries of influence, including those that are intervening in
Libyan affairs, to put pressure on those that violate the cease-fire and on
those that violate the U.N. arms embargo on Libya.
A United Nations report names Jordan, Turkey
and the United Arab Emirates as chief offenders. - Africa
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