![\"Ghassan](\"https:\/\/cdn.ghana-mma.com\/2019\/06\/05073143-696x497.jpg\" "\\"Ghassan")
<\/div>The UN envoy for Libya has called for imme"},"modified":"2019-05-22T11:22:44","modified_gmt":"2019-05-22T11:22:44","slug":"un-envoy-warns-of-long-and-bloody-war-in-libya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/05\/22\/un-envoy-warns-of-long-and-bloody-war-in-libya\/","title":{"rendered":"UN envoy warns of ‘long and bloody war’ in Libya"},"content":{"rendered":"
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![\"Ghassan](\"https:\/\/cdn.ghanamma.com\/2019\/06\/05073143-696x497.jpg\" "\\"Ghassan")
<\/div>\nThe UN envoy for Libya has called for immediate action to cut off arms flows to the warring sides in Libya, warning that the ongoing battle for Tripoli was \u201cjust the start of a long and bloody war\u201d.<\/p>\n
Addressing the Security Council on Tuesday, Ghassan Salame said many countries were supplying weapons to the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli and forces led by renegade general Khalifa Haftar.<\/p>\n
The commander, who is allied to a rival administration in Libya\u2019s east, launched an offensive to seize the capital on April 4, but his forces have been bogged down in the southern outskirts of Tripoli.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe violence on the outskirts of Tripoli is just the start of a long and bloody war on the southern shores of the c, imperiling the security of Libya\u2019s immediate neighbours and the wider Mediterranean region,\u201d Salame said.<\/p>\n
Without immediate measures to stop the flow of arms, \u201cLibya will descend into civil war which could potentially lead to a Hobbesian all-against-all state of chaos or partition of the country\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n
Salame\u2019s appeal came after the GNA posted photographs over the weekend of dozens of Turkish-made armored vehicles that it said on its Facebook page were fresh deliveries for its fighters.<\/p>\n
Pro-Haftar websites also posted photos and video footage of Jordanian-built armoured cars they said were supplied to the Haftar\u2019s Libyan National Army (LNA).<\/p>\n
\u2018Periods of sheer terror\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n In a confidential report to the Security Council earlier this month, UN experts said missiles fired at pro-Tripoli forces in April pointed to a likely drone attack that could involve a \u201cthird party\u201d, possibly the United Arab Emirates. Haftar is backed by Egypt and the UAE.<\/p>\n In recent weeks, Salame said there has been an average of five night-time raids on GNA positions by \u201cunknown aircraft\u201d. For the residents of Tripoli, Ramadan nights \u201cnormally convivially spent in the company of one\u2019s neighbours and family have become periods of sheer terror\u201d.<\/p>\n Without international action, the fighting in Libya could \u201clead to a permanent division of the country\u201d, Salame said, warning that armed groups, including the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, or ISIS) and al-Qaeda have already exploited the security vaccum created by the battle for the capital.<\/p>\n Al Jazeera correspondent at the UN said, \u201csome of the key players, including some of those that are sympathetic to General Haftar actually sit on the Security Council, that I think is why some of the comments from Mr Salame will put some pressure on the wider UN membership.\u201d<\/p>\n The Security Council failed last month to agree on a draft resolution demanding a ceasefire in Libya and a return to political talks to end the conflict.<\/p>\n Russia refused to include any mention of Haftar\u2019s offensive on Tripoli while the United States said it needed more time to consider the situation, diplomats said.<\/p>\n Salame on Tuesday urged the council to set up a commission of inquiry to \u201cdetermine who has taken up arms\u201d and prevent indicted war crimes suspects from taking part in military operations.<\/p>\n Bays said the envoy said \u201d that there were reports of ongoing war crimes taking place in the battles around Tripoli and some of those who had been previously named by the international criminal court were involved in the fighting once again\u201d.<\/p>\n The battle for Tripoli has threatened to ignite a civil war on the scale of the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi. The UN Security Council has imposed an open-ended arms embargo on Libya in February of the same year.<\/p>\n More than 75 000 people have been driven from their homes in the latest fighting and 510 have been killed, according to the World Health Organisation.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n