3 firms face sanctions for breaking Libya arms embargo

BRUSSELS: The European Union (EU) on Monday imposed sanctions on three companies for breaching the UN arms embargo on Libya, diplomatic sources said.

Foreign ministers from the bloc signed off on the measures, which freeze any EU assets held by the companies as well as cuting them off from EU finance markets and barring them from doing business with anyone in the bloc, at a regular meeting in Brussels.

Two individuals were also hit with the sanctions for supplying material to Libya, where the Un-recognised government in Tripoli has been under atack from Khalifa Hatar, who runs a rival administration in the east.

The EU has a naval mission operating in waters off Libya which is tasked with policing the embargo and collecting intelligence on violators, but Monday’s measures are the bloc’s first independent sanctions related to the conflict.

Libya has endured almost a decade of violent chaos since the 2011 Nato-backed uprising that toppled and killed Muammar Qadhafi.

But there have been signs of progress, with representatives from the two sides meeting for peace talks in Morocco ater last month announcing a surprise ceasefire and pledging national elections.

“Ater many months I see a reason for cautious optimism. There is a positive momentum, there is a ceasefire and we need to use it,” EU diplomatic chief Josep Borrell said as he arrived for the foreign ministers’ talks.

But the targeting of a Turkish company risks inflaming already tense relations between Ankara and the EU following a recent flare-up in the eastern Mediterranean over oil and gas reserves.

Turkey’s agreements and cooperation with Libya’s internationally recognised government will continue despite Prime Minister Fayez Al Sarraj’s desire to quit, Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalin was quoted as saying on Monday.

President Tayyip Erdogan has said Turkey was upset by Sarraj’s announcement that he planned to quit, but Kalin said Turkish support for the GNA and their bilateral agreements, which include a security pact signed last year, would continue.