There is ample evidence that Bernardino Leon, UN special envoy to Libya, was in a blatant conflict of interest situation when he accepted a well-paying job with the UAE in June. Leon was heading the dialogue intended to reach a political agreement between the the internationally-recognized House of Representatives(HoR) government based in Tobruk and the rival General National Congress(GNC) government based in Tripoli. The UAE is a strong supporter of the HoR and its armed forces commander, Khalifa Haftar. Leon not only accepted a job in the UAE paying over $1,500 US a day but also accepted direction from officials in the UAE while acting as mediator as shown in leaked emails. The UN approved Leon’s acceptance of the job in the UAE and knew he was negotiating better housing allowances over the summer while still head of the UN dialogue group negotiating with the rival governments. The UN clearly violated its own ethical guidelines.
In the most recent press release on the peace process, the United Nations fails to defend itself or even mention these issues. The UN goes on putting pressure on the parties to sign Leon’s draft: Concerned over Libya’s ongoing political, security and institutional crises and the rising threat of terrorism, the United Nations Security Council today urged all Libyan stakeholders to endorse and sign the recent UN-facilitated political deal and to move swiftly towards forming a Government of National Accord.
Neither of the two rival parliaments have approved Leon’s draft. Both parliaments have issued statements in effect rejecting the drafts. Even if they did accept the agreement, the commander of the HoR armed forces says he will never agree to a ceasefire with the rival GNC militia whom he considers terrorists. He says he will never negotiate with them either. He has pledged allegiance to the HoR only as long as they reject the agreement. Just how does the UN expect the HoR to sign on to the agreement under these circumstances. The UN notes the HoR members have not been allowed to vote on the draft. No doubt if they voted in favour there would be a military coup. Leon insists that there is a majority in favour. There may be but I doubt it personally. I would trust little Leon has to say. However, even if there is in the circumstances it makes perfect sense not to vote on the issue and if there is not a majority, it makes sense also not to hold the vote. Whichever side first explicitly rejects the draft could be subject to sanctions and result in international support going to the other side. This could explain why neither side has yet voted on the draft. In any event even supposing both parliaments passed the draft no unity government could be formed since the military on both sides would no doubt not support it. Although there are a number of militia who would support the LPA and GNA they are small fry compared to the main GNC and HoR forces.
In spite of these obvious facts, the UN goes on in its press release: The members of the Security Council encouraged the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) to advance relevant efforts for co-ordination of international assistance to the future Government of National Accord.
There is no approval of the LPA by either government and yet the UN is suggesting there should be planning for provision of international aid for the GNA. This assumes that there will be a future GNA, as if the process is surely going to be successful. It is just a matter of time. It has been over a year now. Articles are already appearing suggesting that the present draft is dead in the water and there should be discussion of how to move on. An article in the Times of Malta notes:
The UN and the EU continue to insist that a likeable but low-key politician, Faiez Al-Serraj, must be the prime minister in a unity government that both sides have rejected.
One member of the GNA named in the draft, Fathi Bashagha, who was named to be National Security Advisor, has refused to take up any position in the GNA in reaction to the Leon scandal.
But Libyans need a prime minister who speaks for them, not one plucked by the UN.
Another quite interesting article can be found at Ahram. The article notes that the dialogue process has not worked so far. It is stalled but the author argues that the dialogue process is the best way forward. He points out an obvious flaw in the Leon process: Until now, representatives of the military entities, whether the Libyan National Army or the Dawn of Libya militias are not included within the dialogue.
This is not quite an accurate description of the process. Leon did from time to time speak in his reports about a parallel dialogue with representatives of the rival military forces. It is not clear whom he met with from the HoR. Discussions with Haftar would probably be fruitless since he rejected the whole idea of negotiating with the rival GNC forces. Leon did have several meetings with commanders of militia from the GNC area without getting permission to do so from the general staff of the GNC. All he managed to do was take advantage of a split within militias and convince a number of militia, including some associated with Misrata, to sign on to the LPA. When Leon failed to get any further on the parallel military dialogue he simply never mentioned it any more even though he had said several times that the political agreement was unenforceable without such an agreement. The UN never discusses this issue but surely it must have some plan in mind. Any foreign intervention trying to sideline Haftar, however, will probably precipitate a military coup and a worse mess within Libya.
One of the main road blocks in the way of a settlement of the political crisis in Libya is Khalifa Haftar. The rival GNC government and many others will never accept a GNA in which he plays a significant role. Key members of the HoR will never accept a GNA that sidelines him. Somehow the international community must force Haftar to accept a GNA in which he is not a key player. The UAE, Egypt, Jordan, and the Arab League already support Haftar. Their actions are clear and directed to strengthening Haftar and the HoR and defeating the GNC and its forces. This was the aim of Leon as well but he was unable to do so because no doubt others in the UN group insisted that the GNC should be included in the agreement if possible.The international community through the UN Security Council still continues with the pretence that they can get the LPA approved and a GNA up and running. This seems impossible given the facts I have indicated in this article.
