clear

Creating new perspectives since 2009

‘Hafter must have a role in future of Libya’

September 14, 2016 at 3:00 pm

Renegade General Khalifa Haftar must have a “role in the unified Libyan army”, United Nations Security Mission in Libya chief Martin Kobler told the UN Security Council (UNSC) yesterday.

Kobler said the country was in need of a united army. “I said always that General Haftar must have a role in this joint united army structure, and I would like to sit together with him and discuss it,” Kobler told a press conference after briefing the 15-member UNSC with a report on the latest developments in Libya.

In the report, Kobler spoke of the “fragile peace” in Libya’s Oil Crescent which suffered a “fierce blow” when army units commanded by Haftar attacked four oil terminals previously under the control of forces loyal to the Presidency Council.

“This development will further hinder oil exports, deprive Libya of its only source of income, and increase the division of the country. This has to stop,” Kobler explained.

A country as wealthy as Libya should be “making use of its blessings” instead of forcing Libyans to queue for long periods of time in front of banks to withdraw the daily limit of $40 to cover basic costs, he said.

“Faced with few prospects to earn a livelihood, rampant insecurity and endemic corruption, the temptation for the young to leave the country or join armed groups can be overwhelming.”

“This is not a foundation on which to build a stable country. It is high time that the Libyans join forces to urgently address the burning political, security and economic problems of Libya,” he concluded.