Libya Dawn claimed that its rival militias agreed to a “ceasefire on all fronts” after a UN-sponsored round of peace talks in Geneva. The group said that the ceasefire was contingent upon the other side respecting the truce. It remains to be seen if the Tobruk government will cease attacks upon radical Islamist militias in Derna and Benghazi. Also, radical militias such as Ansar al-Sharia may not be willing to stop fighting either.
Libya Dawn also promised that it would provide “safe passages to channel humanitarian aid,” especially in the city of Benghazi. This will require cooperation from some radical Islamist groups. Libya Dawn made their announcement just hours after the UN announced that participants in the Geneva peace talks had agreed on a route to form a unity government.
A UN statement said: “The participants agreed after extensive deliberation on an agenda that includes reaching a political agreement to form a consensual national unity government and the necessary security arrangements to end the fighting,”
All militia were asked to declare a ceasefire. The agreement committed the parties to work for “.. a united and democratic Libya governed by the rule of law and respect for human rights.” Both sides agreed to work toward the release of people abducted, opening of airports, and ensuring safe land and maritime navigation. The Tobruk government had supported General Khalifa Haftar’s bombing of an airport at Tripoli and also Misrata. No airlines now fly to Libya because of the security situation. There are to be more talks next week.
The Daily Mail does not even mention the name Khalifa Haftar who heads the militias ranged on the Tobruk government side and who are part and parcel of the Libyan armed forces. It says the proliferation of Islamist militias in areas such as Benghazi are a key concern. Apparently there is no concern about Haftar burning down the previous parliament, bombing Tripoli a number of times and to a considerable extent starting the whole conflict through his Operation Dignity that attacked Islamist militias in Benghazi.
Ansar al-Sharia is part of the Shura Council of Revolutionaries who rule those parts of Benghazi that Haftar has not retaken. If they are not accepted as part of the deal but still attacked there will be no peace in Benghazi. They will be supported by other members of the Council. The Daily Mail article comes from AFP sources and the same article is reproduced by the Middleeasteye. The article also fails to note that the Libyan Supreme Court, on November 6th, declared the June elections in Libya last year unconstitutional and ruled that the Tobruk House of Representatives should be dissolved.
The mainstream media leave out crucially relevant materials in news reports about Libya, ensuring that the public will not have a proper understanding of the context of events. No articles that I have read report that the other side, that is the Haftar militias — now integrated into the Tobruk government armed forces — have pledged to join the ceasefire announced by Tripoli-government-allied militias. Is this of no significance? Is it not worth mentioning?
The political agreements announced at the Geneva talks are a giant step forward but they will mean little if Haftar continues with his Operation Dignity. The Tobruk government should be making it clear that they do not intend to retake Benghazi and Tripoli. Previously the Tobruk government had given Haftar the green light to do so.Federica Mogherini the chief of EU foreign policy said: This initial progress is a start and should be welcomed even if there’s still a long way to go. The participants have shown a constructive attitude. I encourage all invited representatives, including those who did not attend this round, to participate in the second round of talks next week with the same spirit of respect and consensus.”
The militia groups themselves, such as Libya Dawn, were not part of the initial talks. I assume that Khalifa Haftar was not either but the news media appears to think that it is not worthwhile to delve into this.
Most of the reports do not even make it clear who was there at all. They are just “participants,” following the UN language which often provides the least information possible lest it offend anyone. An earlier report from Reuters indicated that the Tripoli legislature had postponed making a decision to attend until this Sunday. The UN envoy Bernadino Leon confirmed that the meeting would go ahead anyway. It would seem then that the Tripoli government had no representatives even present at the talks. While the Tobruk government had representatives, Reuters reports : The U.N. statement lists the HOR representatives as participating, but representatives of the Tripoli legislature as to be confirmed. Other participants include various former lawmakers and some HOR lawmakers from the city of Misrata, Libya Dawn’s main base.
So was the Tripoli government represented or not? You would think any self-respecting news report would tell you that. The only place I was able to find that answers the question was Fox news, but there may be others that I missed: Libyan negotiators holding talks in Geneva have agreed to work toward forming a national unity government for their shattered nation, the U.N. mission to the North African country announced on Friday. However, the development fell short of making significant progress toward stability in Libya since representatives of one of the main rival groups — the Islamist-dominated parliament in the capital of Tripoli and the militias backing it — were absent from the talks in Switzerland.
Fox makes an obvious but important point that other reports in this case have ignored.
The Tripoli government and its associated militia the Libya Dawn may have decided to call the bluff of the Tobruk government and General Haftar’s forces. The UN earlier demanded that the Tobruk government stop bombings and battle but to no avail. If Haftar stops fighting then peace talks could be successful but if he keeps on, the battles will resume. Haftar and the Tobruk government may stay on the attack but claim that they are only acting against radical Islamist militias such as Ansar al_Sharia.
