Break ties with those on UN blacklist, EU tells Libya rivals
The European Union is urging Libya’s warring factions to distance themselves from terrorists, war criminals and those on a UN sanctions blacklist involved in fighting near the capital, Tripoli.
The EU’s Foreign Affairs Council, which called for a ceasefire, also issued a warning that increasing violence risked allowing terrorists to exploit the chaos.
More than 440 people died and tens of thousands were displaced when units from the Libyan National Army, that are loyal to Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, moved on Tripoli a month ago.
The UN-backed Government of National Accord holds the capital but relies on battle-hardened brigades from north-west Libya to protect it and keep the LNA out.
Militia commander Salah Badi, added to the sanctions list by the Security Council last November, was seen fighting against LNA forces.
Badi, from the city of Misurata and a veteran of the 2011 uprising that ousted former ruler Muammar Qaddafi, was said to have “consistently attempted to undermine a political resolution in Libya through his support for armed resistance”.
In a sign of Libya’s constantly changing and often murky alliances, Badi and his Al Samoud Brigade attacked GNA forces in Tripoli last year.
Another militia leader, Ibrahim Jadhran, appeared to make a statement supporting anti-Haftar forces. He was sanctioned by the UN and US in September for his repeated attacks against Libyan oil facilities in recent years, assaults said to have cost the country billions of dollars in lost revenue.
A handful of men from towns west of Tripoli, who are subject to asset freezes and travel bans for human trafficking, also seem to be fighting alongside pro-GNA units.
Abd Rahman Al Milad, also known as Bija, leads a coastguard unit in Zawiya “consistently linked with violence against migrants and other human smugglers”, according to the UN.
He admitted as much in an interview with Reuters last year saying: “Yes, I strike migrants and this is so they sit correctly and don’t move about.”
His allies – Omar Al Dabbashi and Mohamed Kachlaf, militia leaders themselves and each sanctioned for their roles in human trafficking – are also accused of fighting the LNA.
There have also been unconfirmed reports that militants belonging to Ansar Al Sharia and fighters from the Benghazi Defence Brigades, which the LNA regards as a terrorist organisation, are fighting against Field Marshal Haftar’s forces.
One LNA special forces officer, Mahmoud Al Warfalli, is wanted by the International Criminal Court on war crimes charges but does not seem to have been involved in the Tripoli offensive.
The EU and UN’s repeated calls for a ceasefire have so far gone unheeded. The GNA’s prime minister, Fayez Al Sarraj, has been on a tour of Europe in the past week and held talks with various leaders.
“The LNA military attack on Tripoli and the subsequent escalation in and around the capital constitutes a threat to international peace and security and further threatens the stability of Libya,” the EU said.