adminSince the ouster of Moammar Gadhafi, two seats of power have emerged in Libya.
One (LNA) led by gen. Haftar in eastern Libya, supported mainly by Egypt, Russia, France and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). LNA aim to capture the Libyan capital, Tripoli, with military forces from Russia (mercenaries) and Africa (army troops and members of terrorists groups – Africans branches).
The other one (GNA) is located in Tripoli and surroundings, which enjoys U.N. and international recognition, led by Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj. GNA benefits of Turkish and Maltese support.
This month, Libya’s deputy defense minister announced that his country has agreed with Turkey and Qatar to sign a tripartite deal for military cooperation to boost capabilities of the Libyan military, which will consist of establishing facilities for military training and consultancy for GNA’s troops.
Turkey and Qatar’s defense ministers and Germany’s foreign minister have visited the Libyan capital, Tripoli, amid efforts to secure a ceasefire in the divided country. The two defense ministers both arrived in Libya on Monday (17.08.2020), where they share a common interest in maintaining stability.
Turkey’s Defense Minister, Hulusi Akar, met his Qatari counterpart to discuss bilateral security cooperation as well as regional issues. In the meeting, Akar and Khalid bin Mohammed el Atiye stressed the strategic partnership between the two countries. A military ceremony was held for Akar and General Guler upon their arrival at the Mitiga International Airport in the capital Tripoli. Both Turkish officials went to the Defense Security Cooperation and Training Assistance Advisory Command, which was created as part of a MoU between Turkey and Libya.
German Foreign Minister, Heiko Maas, made an unannounced visit to Tripoli on Monday, saying that the world must not be deceived by the „deceptive calm” in Libya at the moment and should find a way to end the conflict. Maas, who met his Libyan counterpart but not the Turkish or Qatari delegations, said the process started in Berlin remained the framework for resolving the conflict, and backed calls for a demilitarized zone around Sirte.
He said in a statement upon his arrival in the North African country that he was meeting with officials in the UN-recognized administration in the capital to „talk about ways out of this very dangerous situation” where both sides in the bloody civil war are being armed by international allies. He emphasized the need to begin direct talks between the two parties and stop the escalation near Sirte, the site of recent military confrontations.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, „We see a deceptive calm in Libya right now. Both sides and their international allies are continuing to arm the country on a massive scale and are sticking to preconditions for a ceasefire”, he said.
Libya is currently a place of interest for many regional powers, which generates an intent to maintain instability in the area, so, the fate of Libyans will be decided by its neighbors, according to theirs current and future alliances.
