UNITED NATIONS
The U.N. Security Council approved a resolution Friday extending the authorization for countries and regional organizations to inspect vessels on the high seas off the coast of Libya suspected of violating the U.N. arms embargo on the troubled north African nation.
The vote on the
French-sponsored resolution was 14-0, with Russia abstaining. The brief
resolution extends the authorization for inspections for a year.
The monitoring effort has been
carried out since March 2020 by a European Union mission called Operation
Irini, the Greek word for “peace.” The EU said at the start that it would have
as “its core task the implementation of the U.N. arms embargo through the use
of aerial, satellite and maritime assets.”
Russia’s U.N. Ambassador
Vassily Nebenzia said Friday that when Irini started Russia hoped the
inspections would contribute to reducing illegal arms trafficking “and
therefore promote the long-awaited political settlement of Libya’s protracted
conflict.”
“However, this never
happened,” he said, explaining that Operation Irini and its predecessor,
Operation Sophia, have not had “any successful cases of interception of
smuggled goods.”
Nebenzia said Russia will
monitor Irini’s activities in the next 12 months and “we will focus on whether
the operation is efficient in curbing the illegal arms flows and complies with
the Law of The Sea.”
In its first two years of
activity, Operation Irini said it investigated more than 6,200 ships, conducted
almost 250 visits (also known as friendly approaches) onboard merchant vessels,
and 22 inspections. One illegal cargo ship was seized, preventing an illegal
export of jet fuel for military aircrafts to Libya, it said.
Irini said it regularly
monitors transport activities at 16 Libyan ports and oil facilities and 25
airports and landing strips.
Oil-rich Libya plunged into
turmoil after a NATO-backed uprising in 2011 toppled dictator Moammar Gadhafi,
who was later killed. It then became divided between rival governments — one in
the east, backed by military commander Khalifa Hifter, and a U.N.-supported
administration in the capital, Tripoli. Each side is supported by different
militias and foreign powers.
In April 2019, Hifter and his
forces, backed by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, launched an offensive to
try and capture Tripoli. His campaign collapsed after Turkey stepped up its
military support for the U.N.-supported government with hundreds of troops and
thousands of Syrian mercenaries.
An October 2020 cease-fire
deal led to an agreement on a transitional government in early February 2021
and elections were scheduled for last Dec. 24 aimed at unifying the country.
But they were canceled and the country now has rival governments with two Libyans
claiming to be prime minister.
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