Gloom but also hope for Libya five years after uprising

TRIPOLI: Five years after the uprising began against dictator Moamer Kadhafi, many Libyans have lost hope of seeing the rule of law return to a divided country threatened by jihadist expansion.

The Islamic State (IS) group has exploited the chaos engulfing the oil-rich North African nation since the 2011 revolution to gain a foothold and expand its influence.

Last June, it seized Kadhafi’s coastal home town of Sirte – 450 kilometres east of Tripoli – and has since transformed it into a training camp for Libyan and foreign militants.

“The Islamic State likely sees Libya as the most favourable country in which to establish a regional hub of its caliphate,” Ludovico Carlino of the IHS Jane’s think-tank said.

With a port and airport, there are growing fears that IS – which seized large parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014 – may try to use Sirte as a base from which to attack Europe.

Despite the jihadist threat, there are also signs of hope on the political front.

On Monday, a UN-backed council of rival factions announced the formation of a revised government of national unity line-up to be put to lawmakers.

Approval of the cabinet – headed by prime ministerdesignate Fayez al-Sarraj – would be a vital step in resolving Libya’s political disarray, capping off months of difficult diplomacy.

“The journey to peace and unity of the Libyan people has finally started,” UN Libya envoy Martin Kobler wrote on Twitter.

Beyond Libya’s current political and security vacuum, “the availability of large stockpiles of weapons and porous borders, made it the main transit point for North African militants seeking to reach Syria and Iraq to wage jihad there,” Carlino said.

The country also sits atop the largest oil reserves in Africa, estimated at 48 billion barrels, although output has slumped since 2011. —AFP