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| Africa North |
| Libya almost ceasing to be a functioning state: Leon |
| 2015-06-05 |
| [Libya Herald] In his hardest-hitting public speech to date, UNSMIL chief Bernardino Leon has warned that Libya has reached " a moment of truth". It was on the verge of ceasing to exist as a functioning state. He told politicians gathered in Algiers for a two-day meeting as part of the Dialogue, that while the two rivals continued to fight each other, the terror threat of IS was becoming ever more important. With Ramadan approaching the choice had to be made between continued fighting and peace. "We are approaching the sacred month of Ramadan," he said, "a moment of peace, a moment of reconciliation, a moment for the families to get together and celebrate together and I think this is always said about all the countries in the world, and especially true in the case of Libya". Leon spoke of the paradox that both the government and Libya Dawn ...aka Fajr Libya, the Islamist operation launched to counter that of General Khalifa Haftar (Operation Dignity). It is made up of the Libya Shield militia (Misrata and Moslem Brotherhood), Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room (Moslem Brotherhood), and Tripoli Brigade (close to Abdul Hakim Belhaj, head of Al-Watan party). Financing and moral support come from Turkey and Qatar... were each fighting IS (Daesh). This showed very clearly, he said, "that those who have been accusing Fajr Libya (Libya Dawn) of being a terrorist organization now see how some of the most important militias in Fajr Libya are fighting Daesh ... It means that we all have to agree that Fajr Libya is not a terrorist organization but an organization that can share values with many of the people in the other camp and can join these efforts to preserve the Libyan unity, the Libyan illusory sovereignty and to fight those like Daesh who aim at destroying the Libyan state". Leon continued: "But at the same time, it is important for Fajr Libya also to understand that if they can have this common enemy that aims at destroying democracy, at destroying this modern state that all Libyans want to build, it means that this narrative that says that those in Tobruk and in other regions are people from the previous regime who are against democracy is also wrong. "It means that these shared values of building a modern and democratic state are not a monopoly of Fajr Libya and other organizations but can be shared by all those present in both camps". Leon said that Libya now really was at the limit. As soon as six weeks, the Central Bank of Libya would very probably be unable to pay salaries. Libyan administration in both Beida and Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... would be faced with collapse. Oil production had dropped, he said, but even if it recovered to 2011 levels, it would not be able to sustain the budget deficit that Libya needs to maintain its public finances. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #9 Barry's heart belongs to Valerie, Alan. |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2015-06-05 22:08 |
| #8 Libya, Yemen, Syria, Iraq - there's a pattern going on here. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2015-06-05 17:49 |
| #7 Whadd'ya suppose Daffy's chances of winning were before Operation Samba Lessons? |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2015-06-05 13:10 |
| #6 RiV, I consider our current regime to be a Hydra. Many heads but only one heart. All the heads are in it together and equally culpable. When I say Obama I indict they all. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2015-06-05 09:20 |
| #5 Alan, especially Hilary. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2015-06-05 08:59 |
| #4 Another sterling example of a success for Obummer's "Smart Diplomacy". |
| Posted by: AlanC 2015-06-05 07:59 |
| #3 What's your definition of 'almost'? |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2015-06-05 07:19 |
| #2 So, what's your definition of "functioning state", Mr Leon? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2015-06-05 07:01 |
| #1 Wow who would have thought? A UN diplomat/drone making sense. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2015-06-05 00:07 |