Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Dr Mustafa Fetouri
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Is France isolated by EU countries due to its Libya-Turkey policy?
France and Turkey, two NATO allies, are escalating the military situation in the Eastern Mediterranean over the growing dispute between Turkey and Greece – also NATO members. On 14 August, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu urged that France should refrain from taking any steps that “escalate tensions”. A day...
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The curse of the tent: Gaddafi warned us, but we didn’t listen
If the late Muammar Gaddafi came back from the grave he would immediately recognise the new Libya, despite having never seen it. He predicted almost everything that is occurring in his country today. In some instances, his predictions were so vivid in detail, as if he was watching them...
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The visitor that nobody invited and everybody hated
The French self-proclaimed philosopher, author and journalist Bernard-Henri Levy, infamously known as “BHL”, suddenly appeared in Libya on an unannounced visit. Landing in Misrata, he went on to visit Khoms and Tarhuna where he inspected the site of mass graves recently discovered after General Khalifa Haftar’s forces were chased...
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Are Libya’s tribes really supporting Sisi’s threat of military action?
On 17 July, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi received a delegation of half a dozen Libyan tribal elders to approve his 23 June announcement that he will send Egyptian troops to Libya when deemed necessary. Egypt is supporting Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) in eastern Libya,...
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Thirsty and disunited we fall: Arabs and the water problem
Since 2011, Ethiopia has been building its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, and during this time, neither Sudan nor Egypt stopped complaining about it. Being downstream, the two Arab countries fear that their share of the water will be reduced, causing them serious water shortages. Egypt, in particular, depends almost...
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How the Libyan conflict exposed world disorder and political hypocrisy
Now that General Khalifa Haftar’s military offensive to take Tripoli has failed, and his Libyan National Army (LNA) was pushed back, it is worth examining how the Western governments reacted to his offensive and the implications on world order, or rather disorder. Libya’s case is somehow unique and almost unprecedented...
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Why is it wrong to share Libyan oil revenue now?
Foreign countries are now openly fighting their proxy war on Libyan soil and deciding on war, peace, and even when the country can resume its oil exports. In an unusual statement, Mustafa Sanalla, chairman of Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) revealed that negotiations were underway to lift the oil...
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Is the US using its NATO ally Turkey to counter Russia in Libya?
Watching the recent military development in Libya, the obvious question is: does the US have a coherent strategy to counter the fast-growing Russian presence in the North African country? It seems it does not. The US’ overall strategy, in the entire Middle East and North Africa, appears to be one...
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The Arab League’s resolution on Libya: Too much ado about nothing
The League of Arab States (LAS) finally produced its last resolution on Libya, Resolution 8523, after its council met via video conference. On 19 June, Egypt called for the extraordinary meeting to discuss the deteriorating situation in Libya. However, the meeting, as is usually the case with the LAS...
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How Haftar squandered his near secure victory, and why
In early April 2019, General Khalifa Haftar’s offensive to take Tripoli by force seemed almost certain to succeed. Thirteen months later he not only lost, but was forced to retreat. By the end of last May, Haftar’s own base in eastern Libya appeared threatened like never before, since appearing...
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Khalifa Haftar: The former exile who wants to rule Libya
Self-styled field marshal Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), is a man with two interdependent missions. The first one is to rule Libya, while the second is to re-write a paragraph of his CV. This would be far easier; however, it depends on him becoming...
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Russia’s rising dawn over Libya, or is it another Syria in the making?
Russia’s role in the Libyan crisis has been rather slow to develop, because Moscow was deeply busy with Syria’s civil war. Sometimes, Russia even appeared disinterested in Libya from the start. In 2011, as the West prepared to intervene militarily in the North African country, it needed a United...
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Is dividing Libya a possible compromise to end the conflict?
Since 2011, Libya’s territorial integrity and future has never been so deeply intertwined with the fate of one person, as it stands now. In 2011, the country’s future was highly dependent on the destiny of its longtime ruler, the late Muammar Gaddafi. His NATO-backed opponents believed that he was...
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Why is Libya so chaotic and ungovernable?
The ongoing war in Libya did not start last year when Khalifa Haftar launched his attack to unseat the Government of National Accord (GNA) in the capital of Tripoli on 4 April, nor will it end when the current fighting stops. What Haftar achieved was to initiate another episode...
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What is Turkey up to in Libya?
The latest statement from Turkey about Libya was issued on 10 May by the Foreign Ministry, which threatened the Libyan National Army (LNA) if it targets any Turkish interests in the North African country. “If our missions and interests in Libya are targeted, we will deem [Field Marshal...
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Will the ‘Iraq scenario’ help Libya to function normally again?
Years ago, you heard very little about Libya except bad news. The Western media, quite deliberately, excluded good news about the country. Any Libyan story that was picked up was usually connected to bad things, such as terror attacks or some other tragedy. During Muammar Gaddafi’s 42 years ruling...
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Weaponising water in Libya despite coronavirus pandemic
This month, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the Libyan capital and most of western Libya spent at least 20 days without water. This was in addition to living through intensified fighting around Tripoli which only abated following the humiliating defeat of the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by...
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Is Haftar’s stubbornness behind his military setbacks?
The Libyan National Army (LNA), headed by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, suffered a series of setbacks recently, losing three major cities in western Libya in less than a week. Starting on 13 April, the LNA lost Sabratha followed by Surman and then Al-Ajailat. Judging that it is rather useless...
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How not to fail as UN envoy to Libya
The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is yet to name his new envoy to Libya and head of its United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). Ghassan Salame, who held the post for two and half years, has abruptly and rather surprisingly, resigned on 3 March while in...
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Libya’s Syria connection is being reactivated
When President Recep Tayyip Erdogan admitted for the first time last February that his government has sent Syrian mercenaries to Libya he was only confirming what was already known. Libyan affairs experts and commentators had already pointed out that fact. It also makes sense for him to send Syrian fighters loyal...
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One year on with his offensive and Haftar is more determined but less successful
This Saturday marks a year since Libya’s Khalifa Haftar ordered his self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) to march on Tripoli to expel the Government of National Accord (GNA). On 11 April last year, MEMO published an article that said Haftar could not retreat as to do so at the...
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Lockerbie’s only convict may be exonerated posthumously
The only man to be convicted of the infamous Lockerbie bombing, Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi, died in 2012 and protested his innocence until his final breath. His fellow Libyan and co-defendant, Lamin Khalifa Fhimah, was acquitted and is still living in Libya. The bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in December...
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Why Egypt’s meddling in Libya’s affairs is worrying
Of all Libya’s neighbours Egypt stands out as the most dangerous. Cairo now holds huge sway over Khalifa Haftar’s camp as his main regional backer to take the capital Tripoli from the Government of National Accord. The Egyptian role in Libya has surged since President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi ascended...
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Is France changing its position on Libya and starting to support Haftar?
Last Monday, the French government hosted Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar on a brief, unannounced, visit to Paris. Accompanied by his top political advisor, my ex-academic colleague turned politician Fadel Ed-Deep, he met President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace. After the meeting an Élysée official said that, “Marshal Haftar...
