Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Dr Mustafa Fetouri
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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 to…
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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) region…
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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 was…
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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 known…
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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…
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Is the battle to replace General Khalifa Haftar already on?
Hardly mentioned in local media and rarely appearing in person, Major Hassan Maatouk is being groomed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for a possible leading role within General Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA). Since the LNA lost its offensive to take Tripoli last June, when it retreated instead…
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Why is the GNA defunding the Lockerbie case despite it being close to a verdict of innocence?
The only Lockerbie bombing convict is one step closer to his guilty verdict being overturned, however, posthumously. Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi died at home in Tripoli on 21 May, 2012, while protesting his innocence until his last breath. The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) allowed the family to proceed with an…
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Nine years after NATO reshaped their country, Libyans are embracing a ceasefire
Almost simultaneously last Friday, Libya’s rival authorities published statements calling for an immediate ceasefire, a return to talks and a host of other encouraging proposals which seem almost too good to be true. In a statement on Facebook, the head of the Government of National Accord (GNA), Fayez Al-Sarraj, said…
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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 earlier,…
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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 unfold.…
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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 out…
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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, and…
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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 entirely…
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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 blockade.…
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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 gatherings,…
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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 on…
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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 president.…
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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 Nations…
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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 the…