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US and Others Open to Arming Libyan Government
| Wall Street Journal | - |
VIENNA—The
U.S. government and 20 other nations on Monday pledged to consider
training and arming the Libyan government as it struggles to stop
Islamic State from expanding in the country.
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U.S. and Others Open to Arming Libyan Government
Secretary of State John Kerry and top diplomats meet in Vienna to discuss anti-Islamic State measures
ENLARGE
Libyan Prime Minister-designate Fayez al-Sarraj (L) holds talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (R) in Vienna on Monday.
Photo:
European Pressphoto Agency
Libyan Prime Minister Faiez Serraj, whose United Nations-backed government is still being challenged by a rival government in the east, has been pushing for Western powers to ease an arms embargo. The U.N. put the ban in place five years ago, but allowed for exceptions needed to secure the North African country and fight terrorist groups.
Following a meeting of diplomats in Vienna, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said “the international community will support” Mr. Serraj’s government “as it seeks exemptions from the U.N. arms embargo to acquire those arms and bullets needed to fight Daesh and other terrorist groups.” Daesh is another name for Islamic State.
A “delicate balance” had to be found to prevent arms falling into the wrong hands, he said. The Libyan government will have to submit a detailed list of the weapons and equipment it seeks, pending the approval of the U.N. Security Council. With all permanent members of the Security Council, including China and Russia, signing the Vienna statement, the plan is unlikely to face resistance.
Mr. Serraj said Libya only wants foreign assistance in training and equipping its newly formed anti-Islamic State forces, not a foreign military intervention.
“The situation in Libya is extremely bad,” he said, warning that the “international community would not be spared” if Islamic State isn’t eradicated from the country.
Islamic State controls the Mediterranean port of Sirte and in recent weeks has gained territory in government-held areas.
Earlier this month, Mr. Serraj’s government announced the formation of a military task force to address the threat posed by Islamic State. But it isn’t backed by the rival government in the eastern town of Tobruk. The rival government supports the army of Gen. Khalifa Haftar, a controversial figure who has had some success in fighting Islamic State. The Tobruk government is also quarreling with Tripoli over the allocation of the country’s oil and financial resources.
In their statement, the 21 nations said they would cease contacts and support to “parallel institutions,” and said Mr. Serraj’s government was “the sole legitimate recipient of international security assistance.”
According to German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, diplomats “agreed that in the next days, we should seek to integrate Gen. Haftar in the government structures and avoid a split of the country.” Mr. Steinmeier said the general was “the key person to secure the backing for the [Serraj] government.”
While credited with beating back an Islamic State-inspired insurgency in Benghazi and Derna, Gen. Heftar, who returned from the U.S. in 2014, also used his military influence to fight militias aligned with an Islamist-leaning government based in Tripoli that continues to oppose the Serraj government. Gen. Heftar is viewed with suspicion in the West also because he refused to back the U.N. peace process and stated that he wants the arms embargo removed at any cost.
Mr. Steinmeier said talks also focused on the dangers posed by weapons trafficking and human smuggling in and out of Libya. “We have to make sure the Mediterranean doesn’t turn into a lawless area,” Mr. Steinmeier said. He added Germany and other countries will push for a separate U.N. Security Council resolution to fight weapons trafficking into Libya.
The Vienna meeting was co-chaired by Italy, Libya’s former colonial ruler, which is concerned about the country’s stability because of the threat of uncontrolled migration. Libya’s Mediterranean coast is a main departure point for migrants to southern Europe.
“We talked about securing our borders to prevent illegal immigration,” Mr. Serraj said. He steered clear of making a formal request for an European Union naval mission against migrant smugglers to be allowed into Libyan waters.
The number of migrants making the perilous crossing to Italy from Libya has increased in recent months. Italian officials are concerned the migrants will resort to the Libya-Italy route in increasing numbers after a deal between the EU and Turkey in March cut off a main migration route between Turkey’s western coast and the Greek islands.
Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni also invited a handful of foreign ministers of sub-Saharan African nations to the Vienna meeting. Most of the migrants arriving in Italy from Libya originate in countries such as Chad and Sudan.
—Tamer El-Ghobashy in Cairo contributed to this article.
Write to Valentina Pop at valentina.pop@wsj.com