Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Dr Mustafa Fetouri
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What awaits Libya’s novice prime minister-designate
Libya’s designated Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, in his first press conference on 25 February, did not name the expected cabinet line-up. Many, in Libya and abroad, eagerly awaited the unveiling of the Government of National Unity (GNU) after the novice politician was elected by the Libyan Political Dialogue...
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The United Nations and Libya: The habit of putting the cart before the horse
As the international body entrusted with world peace, security and conflict mediation worldwide, the United Nations (UN) has been involved in Libya’s internal conflict from the very start. This involvement came quickly – somewhat hastily and ill-advised from day one. Over the years, the UN became part of the conflict,...
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Some Libyans do not want democracy 10 years after NATO forced it upon them
Wednesday marked ten years since the start of the Libyan uprising against the government of Muammar Gaddafi. France’s military intervention was eventually ushered in before the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), the strongest military alliance in history, took over. After seven months of around-the-clock air bombardment, Gaddafi’s government was toppled...
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In conversation with the Italian admiral hoping to bring peace to Libya
In an interview with MEMO, Commander of Operation IRINI Rear Admiral Fabio Agostini disputes the criticism that the operation fails to effectively enforce the arms embargo imposed on Libya by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), aiming to limit foreign interference in the country’s internal conflict. On the contrary, the Italian...
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How the United Nations took over Libya, then decided its future
On 16 September, 2011, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) passed Resolution 2009, creating the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). The mission, which has boasted seven chiefs so far, increasingly became Libya’s top decision-maker following a seven-month bloody civil war that divided the country. The war “officially” ended...
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A breakthrough in Libya, or just too much ado about nothing?
Slovakia’s former Foreign Minister Jan Kubis was approved as the United Nations’ new Libya envoy almost one year after the last envoy, Ghassan Salame, resigned. He is number seven in almost ten years and will also head the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). In a statement announcing the...
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The Israelisation of US foreign policy is hard to reverse
One of the US foreign policy standards is supporting Israel at all levels, even if that means violating international laws and norms. Every new US president, before they are elected, is likely to have already made certain pledges favouring Israel during their election campaign. As soon as that president is...
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This is what President Biden will not do in the Middle East
On 20 January, Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th president of the United States. This will end four years of Donald Trump’s foreign policy that has upset allies, angered friends and, sometimes, benefitted foes. However, amending foreign policy in the bitterly divided US will neither be...
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Can the EU ever have boots on the ground in Libya?
The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres, in a letter to member states dated 31 December, asked regional blocs to nominate observers to monitor Libya’s shaky ceasefire and arms embargo. The two Libyan warring sides signed a ceasefire in Geneva on 23 October, but the agreement is under pressure...
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Is Cairo trying to counter Ankara by warming up to Tripoli?
For the first time in about six years, an Egyptian delegation visited Tripoli, Libya, in an attempt to improve relations between Egypt and the Government of National Accord (GNA) – Libya’s only United Nations (UN)-recognised government in the war-torn country. The two-day visit focused on technical issues like the...
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Is Libya heading in the wrong direction, with potential for another war?
Acting United Nations (UN) Envoy to Libya Stephanie Williams announced on 23 October: “ a crucial sign of hope for the Libyan people.” Williams was enthusiastically describing a permanent ceasefire just signed in Geneva between Libya’s two competing authorities. The document called for several requirements to be met...
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A new indictment is likely for the Lockerbie bombing, maybe two
The United States justice department is scheduled at 15:30 GMT today to announce a new indictment against a Libyan individual, possibly two, in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, on 21 December, 1988. The suspect was described in US media reports last week as explosives...
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Human rights take a back seat as Cairo-Paris axis strengthens
On the Egyptian presidency website there is a page dedicated to the awards and medals that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi received long before he became president. Yet, the list of 17 honours excludes his most recent – France’s Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, which French President...
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Algeria’s guessing game about its president continues
In Algeria’s challenging guessing game, the health and whereabouts of the president have been the hardest to guess, as always. Is President Abdelmadjid Tebboune healthy enough to carry on his duties during such a difficult time for the country? Is he still in Germany, where he arrived for medical...
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To preserve a 31-year-old lie, Britain is ready to tarnish Scottish justice
The third appeal hearing for the Lockerbie bombing’s only conviction ended last Thursday before Scotland’s highest court. The five judges have now retired to deliberate their verdict. Presiding Lord Justice General Colin Sutherland, Scotland’s most senior judge, said that the panel will deliver its written opinion “as soon as...
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Libya’s bribery has marred political dialogue
The Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) is continuing in Tunis amid reports of bribery. On 23 November, acting head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Stephanie Williams, opened a virtual consultation session in which the 75-member group intended to discuss the criteria for higher officeholders. However, the...
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Another woman has been murdered in Libya, but no one is being held accountable
A well-known lawyer and human rights activist was gunned down in Benghazi, Libya, on 10 November. Hanan Al-Barassi, known as the “Granny of Burqa”, was murdered at around 2pm in one of the city’s busiest streets. According to Benghazi’s security directorate, a group of “unidentified masked men” first tried...
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What can Libya expect with Biden in the White House?
It is now, it seems, a matter of formalities before Joe Biden is inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States of America on 20 January. It is a good time, therefore, to try to preview what his foreign policy towards the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)...
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Sudan has normalised relations with Israel, and Khartoum is to blame
When US President Donald Trump announced on 24 October that Sudan had agreed to normalise ties with Israel he surprised few observers in the region. In February, Sudan’s transitional leader, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, met secretly with Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu in the home of the Ugandan president in Entebbe. That...
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Is there a light at the end of the tunnel for Libya?
In just two months, the situation in Libya has shifted dramatically, creating hope that a solution to the ongoing crisis might be around the corner. The latest event, in a series of meetings starting last month, is the 5+5 Joint Military Commission meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, which ended with the...
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Why do Libyan politicians refrain from criticising NATO’s war on their country, despite civilian deaths?
Between 2011 and today, many Western leaders who supported the military intervention in Libya nine years earlier have expressed some kind of regret about the war. But not a single Libyan politician went on the record to criticise NATO’s killing of civilians and the destruction of Libya. Former US President...
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Three women, loads of lies and the destruction of Libya
Hillary Clinton, Susan Rice and Samantha Power were the three principal advocates of war against Libya in 2011, setting the North African nation on a free fall ever since. Demonstrations broke out in some Libyan cities against the government of late Muammar Gaddafi in February 2011, in what became...
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How the European Union betrayed Libya, and itself too
On 5 October, the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas co-chaired a ministerial meeting on Libya. The gathering was attended by ministers and representatives of the Berlin Conference countries that took part in the first meeting on Libya hosted by Germany last January. What...
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Why do Arab leaders respect treaties with others but not between themselves?
The so-called “Abraham Accord”, as the deal between the UAE and Israel is known, arrived faster than even the most enthusiastic Zionists could have imagined, even if secret negotiations had been taking place. Bahrain has followed suit with indecent haste. The first Arab-Israeli peace deal took place in 1979 with...