French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said he would propose sanctioning present Libyan leaders: “Now, we can wait no longer,” he added, denouncing those who “put themselves in the way out of self-interest. We have to fight Daesh [Isis] where it is trying to develop in Libya, but the precondition is the constitution of a new national unity government.”
The UN has pushed a Libyan Political Agreement (LPA) signed in Skhirat, Morocco, on December 17 without the approval of either the GNC or the HoR. The Libya Dialogue’s aim was to come to an agreement between the two rival governments. Having failed to do this, the UN decided to get what it wanted anyway even though it violated an understanding that both parliaments must approve the LPA. The UN went ahead and gathered members of the Dialogue, including from the HoR and the GNC, who approved the LPA but were not authorized to sign by their respective governments. The whole idea is to have a government up and running that will the ask foreign countries to intervene militarily against the Islamic State. The people in the rival governments who are obstacles to this plan are now termed “spoilers.” Mainstream media goes along with this terminology, expressing no misgivings at all about how this situation was brought about by the machinations of the UN. A number of countries such as the US, France, and the UK already have special forces in Libya not bothering to wait for any legal legitimization of their action, but making arrangements with existing militia forces.
The sanctions issue has already been discussed at an Anglo-Italian summit in Venice at the beginning of the week and will no doubt also be raised at a foreign ministers’ meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry at Paris tomorrow March 12. The sanctions could consist of travel bans to the EU plus asset freezes.
Specific names mentioned as possibly subject to sanctions are Aguila Saleh president and speaker of the HoR, as well as Nuri Abu Sahmain and Khalifa al-Ghweil of the Tripoli-based GNC.Reuters also mentions the same three names. ABC news mentions only the names of the two GNC officials and not Saleh. Not all countries believe that sanctions are a good idea, as many countries, including Greece, fear that the sanctions will have little practical impact while strengthening opposition. The HoR needs to provide a vote of confidence in the GNA before its term starts. The UN is probably not worrying about the GNC not signing the agreement but worries about its threat against and lack of support for the GNA moving to Tripoli. The UN wants the GNA to set up shop there and gain control of the central bank and the National Oil Company so as to starve the GNC and HoR of funds. The point is made clear in a recent press release by Martin Kobler the Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG).
The EU has said that it would impose sanctions before. The mainstream press obediently forgets this and who was sanctioned. In July of 2015 the EU announced that it would sanction General Khalifa Haftar, commander-in-chief of the Libyan National Army (LNA) and also his air force chief. It seems nothing happened except that Haftar subsequently signed a military agreement with Jordan, and got support from Egypt, the UAE, and the Arab League. Haftar claimed the EU threat of sanctions was meaningless. He was right, at least about himself. This time his name has not come up though he is still a key player in any move to pass the GNA through the HoR.
If the EU is considering sanctions why do they not sanction some of the many companies that are violating the arms embargo imposed on Libya? Apparently, when parties violate arms embargo it is not serious enough to consider punishment to enforce compliance.
