U.N. Secretary General Warns Nations Ignoring Arms-Embargo on Libya

Arms, a lucrative international commodity, have steadily flowed into Libya since the genesis of its Civil War nine years ago. Now, the UN hopes that stemming the flow will help end the protracted conflict. Source.

Attempting to reach a cease-fire in Libya, the U.N. is again demanding that nations respect the ongoing arms-embargo placed on the warring nation. The civil war in Libya has yet to reach a conclusion, and the U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warns that the nation’s future is at risk if the conflict is not resolved soon.  

The arms-embargo has been renewed multiple times, but nations have been continuously violating the agreement, supplying the warring sides in Libya with resources. The U.N. first established an arms-embargo on Libya in February of 2011. The embargo restricts the supply of military equipment to or from Libya, while their country remains in conflict. Among the nations violating the arms-embargo are Russia and Turkey, both involved in order to obtain resources located in the region. These resources are the oil and natural gas reserves located in Libya that are coveted by most of the nations involved. Libya has the largest oil reserves and fourth-largest natural gas reserves in Africa. Therefore, nations such as Russia and Turkey are becoming heavily involved in the hopes of having an influence over these resources in Libya. 

The civil war within Libya stems from the conflict between a U.N. sponsored government and a Libyan-sponsored government backed by the Libyan National Army (LNA). The U.N. sponsored government is known as the Government of National Accord (GNA), established in 2015 in order to encourage cooperation among parties after the tumultuous 2014 elections. The party is based in the capital city of Tripoli and has received aid from nations such as Turkey, Italy, and Qatar. The government is not widely recognized  within the nation as the primary government, but it is recognized internationally.

Rivalling the GNA is the House of Representatives (HoR) and the LNA led by Khalifa Haftar. The HoR was an internal Libyan party established during the 2014 election. The party refuses to acknowledge the validity of the GNA based on the international influence that gave the GNA power and the supposed Islamist influence within GNA leadership. Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, all support the HoR and the LNA, while France and Jordan have only provided a limited amount of aid.  

Haftar, leader of the LNA, is a former general who aided Muammar al-Gaddafi obtain power in Libya in 1969. He later aided the United States’ efforts to overthrow Gaddafi in the 1990s. It was not until an uprising in 2011 when Gaddafi was overthrown and the civil unrest began. Now, in the wake of the death of the Libyan dictator in 2011, the country has been suffering under political division as the GNA and HoR combat for control, with the support of interested nations.

Libyans have suffered tremendously as thousands have been displaced from their homes and the Libyan economy is struggling under the war effort. Issues such as medicine shortages and power cuts plague the citizens of Libya. This results in over 1.3 million people who need humanitarian aid and casualty numbers that may range from 2,500 to 25,000. It is unclear exactly how many civilians have lost their lives to the conflict because the numbers have been extremely politicized. Libyan people are struggling under the weight of this conflict and the militarized state of the nation does not look like it will be calmed any time soon.