Libyan prime minister meets May to press need for international help over conflict

The meeting, which was also attended by Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, was deliberately not widely publicised by either side

Screengrab from a video published on the LNA’s War Information Division’s Facebook page on 16 April shows a fighter running while firing a machine gun reportedly in a southern suburb of Tripoli (AFP/Getty)

Fayez al-Sarraj, the prime minister of Libya, has held talks with Theresa May in the last lap of his tour of Europe as he seeks an answer to why his internationally recognised government is not receiving solidarity from the international community while forces of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar continue their attacks on the capital with foreign help.

The meeting on Thursday morning, which was also attended by Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, was deliberately not widely publicised by either side.

Afterwards, Downing Street put out a statement saying that the British Prime Minister “had expressed concern about the ongoing conflict in Libya and encouraged progress towards a ceasefire”. Officials spoke about striving to find a swift solution to the ongoing crisis.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said “The UK government shares Prime Minister Sarraj’s grave concern at the situation across Libya, where the security and humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate. Recent violence has caused the displacement of thousands of people and blocked emergency aid to casualties, including civilians.

"It is imperative that all parties respect International Humanitarian Law. We’ve been clear that there can be no military solution in Libya, diplomacy is the only way to bring this bloodshed and uncertainty to a close.”

But Britain’s ability to influence events in Libya is extremely limited. David Cameron, along with Nicolas Sarkozy of France, led the chorus of “Gaddafi must go” back in 2011, encouraging the uprising during the Arab Spring and being instrumental in launching the Nato military campaign during the subsequent civil war. However, London’s footprint on the ground, since that time, has amounted to little more than deploying small numbers of Special Forces during the oppaerations against Isis.

There had been talk of the UK proposing a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire, but this appears to have been shelved for the time being after discouragement for a number of states, including allied ones, from putting forward the motion.

Unlike Mr Sarraj’s Government of National Accord (GNA) the forces of the Field Marshal Haftar, who recently promoted himself from General, is getting potent military backing from countries including Egypt, the UAE and Russia.

France has also been providing support, albeit more surreptitiously, and there are claims that the US has also been considering endorsing Haftar following a telephone call between him and Donald Trump.

As Mr Sarraj began his European trip, Field Marshal Haftar dismissed the prospect of an end to hostilities during the holy month of Ramadan and urged troops of his Libyan National Army to inflict “an even harder” lesson on the GNA, forcing it to retreat.

He instructed his forces to “pursue it with speed, prevent it from fleeing and wipe it out.” He has reiterated that the aim is a military victory.

The first leg of Mr Sarraj’s journey was to Rome where successive governments had stood by his administration. Italy, Libya’s former colonial occupiers, has been the only Western country to maintain a more or less continuous presence in Tripoli since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi while other Western states pulled out. Rome has been particularly critical of the intervention by Emmanuel Macron’s administration.

Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has charged that “France has no interest in stabilising the situation, probably because it has oil interests that are opposed to that of Italy.”

He accused the French government of responsibility for chaos and the subsequent refugee crisis, and wanted to make clear: “We won’t be taking any lessons in morality from Macron.”

Mr Sarraj met Prime Minister Guiseppe Conte and wanted to stress that he “does not doubt Italy’s eagerness to regain stability in Libya” and asked for help to ensure “positive changes”.

Mr Conte assured that his government will press for Field Marshal Haftar to agree to a ceasefire and ask fellow European Union states to do the same. But the Italian Prime Minister, according to diplomatic sources, ruled out any military involvement by his country in the conflict.

The Libyan Prime Minister went on to meet Mr Macron in Paris. The French President’s office issued a statement "noting that there is no military solution to the Libyan conflict ... the proposal was put forward to delimit a ceasefire line, under international supervision… The two leaders agreed on the importance of extending and deepening the dialogue with all stakeholders in Libya, including in the east, south and west of the country, and with civil society”.

The French did not specify where the ceasefire line would be drawn or made any calls for Field Marshal Haftar’s forces to pull back from positions he had taken over since launching an offensive against Tripoli on 4 April, the stipulation made by the GNA for restarting negotiations.

In Berlin, on the next leg, Angela Merkel called for the two warring sides to return to the negotiating table and a Ramadan truce. There was no offer, say officials, of a European Union initiative, a hope of the GNA government.

The German Chancellor stated that the "basis for putting an end to the conflict in Libya" is an agreement which Mr Sarraj and Field Marshal Haftar agreed in February in Abu Dhabi regarding the end of the transition in the country by holding national parliamentary elections.

Adhering to the Abu Dhabi agreement is the official position of outside powers with interest in Libya including Russia which, according to Ukrainian intelligence which has been tracking flights, transporting weapons and mercenaries to Benghazi and Tobruk.

The Russian defence ministry has not commented on previous claims that special forces were being sent to Libya. No comments have been made on the allegations that mercenaries and weapons are being sent to the country.

The agreement is also the favoured position of the US administration, which the Sarraj government has been trying to engage with avidly in recent weeks in the belief that Mr Trump was the best person to get France, Egypt and the Emiratis to rein in commander Haftar and persuade his friend Vladimir Putin to do the same.

The GNA’s Deputy Prime Minister, Ahmed Maiteeq, has met members of the administration and Congress to help slow down the flow of arms to the Haftar forces. Mr Sarraj had spoken on the phone to Senator Lindsey Graham, the former critic of Mr Trump who is now a follower and ally. Mr Graham, it is reported, has urged the US president to use American influence to prevent a military takeover.

The Americans, according to diplomatic sources, want Field Marshal Haftar to stop the offensive and return to talks. It does not expect him to relinquish the ground he had gained and will not try to force him to do so.

The administration has, however, noted that the commander’s claim that various powerful militias will fall in with him once he starts the attack on Tripoli has proved not to be the case and the GNA still retains backing from many of the militia groups.

The GNA may, at present, seem beleaguered under assault from Haftar forces. But his forces have failed to storm Tripoli and attempting to do so is likely to become a bloody and violent campaign with mass casualties which will do nothing to help the image he wants to project as the saviour of Libya. Mr Sarraj’s European safari and a trip to the US which may follow could pave the way to talks. The prospect for peace breaking out immediately, however, remains bleak.