UN ‘alarmed’ by continued military mobilisation in Libya

The “last thing that Libya needs right now is more fighting,” the spokesman for the United Nations secretary general told journalists in a press briefing.

In response to a question by journalists about Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s hints at a possible Egyptian military intervention in the country, Stephane Dujarric said that the UN is “alarmed by the continued military mobilisation in central Libya, particularly in Sirte, the transfer of weapons from abroad, the continued recruitment of mercenaries,” which he described as “flagrant violations of the arms embargo.”

Dujarric stressed that it is “important for none of the parties to do anything that would make the situation worse.”

Responding to a question on whether “an Egyptian military intervention” would “make the situation worse,” the UN spokesman said that “it is clear that the last thing that Libya needs right now is more fighting, more military mobilisation, more transfer of weapons, more presence of either foreign fighters of mercenaries on its soil.”

READ: Libya says 190 bodies found in mass graves by Haftar

Last Saturday, Al-Sisi warned that his country could intervene in Libya if Turkey and its allied forces sieze the Libyan city of Sirte.

Al-Sisi backs Libya’s renegade General Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the Tobruk-based Libyan National Army (LNA) which has recently incurred losses to forces affiliated with the internationally-backed Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA), which is backed by Turkey.

Over the past few weeks, the GNA has succeeded in pushing back Haftar’s forces, restoring control over Tripoli and major oil fields in the area, ending in failure a military offensive Haftar launched over a year ago to capture the Libyan capital.