In a move fraught with risk, the US and other world powers said on Monday they would supply Libya’s internationally recognized government with weapons to counter the Islamic State group and other militants gaining footholds in the chaos-wracked nation’s lawless regions.
Aiming at once to shore up the fragile government, and prevent Islamic State fighters and rival militias from further gains, the US, the four other permanent UN Security Council members and more than 15 other nations said they would approve exemptions to a UN arms embargo to allow military sales and aid to Libya’s Government of National Accord.
In a joint communique, the nations said that while the broader embargo would remain in place, they are “ready to respond to the Libyan government’s requests for training and equipping” government forces.
“We will fully support these efforts, while continuing to reinforce the UN arms embargo,” the communique said.
With support from all five permanent members of the UN Security Council, the plan is unlikely to face significant opposition from any quarter.
The communique was issued at the end of talks that gathered US Secretary of State John Kerry and top officials from more than 20 other nations to discuss ways to strengthen Libya’s fledgling government. The aim is to give the internationally recognized administration more muscle fighting the Islamic State group and to end its rivalry with a group to the east claiming legitimacy.
The step would boost the government’s efforts to consolidate power and regain control over Libyan state institutions such as the central bank and the national oil company, but it also comes with risks, not least of which is that the arms might be captured or otherwise taken by the Islamic State or other groups.
Kerry called the plan “a delicate balance, but we are all of us here today supportive of the fact that if you have a legitimate government and that legitimate government is fighting terrorism, that legitimate government should not be victimized by [the embargo].”
Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj said his government would soon submit a weapons wish list to the UN Security Council for approval.
“We have a major challenge ahead of us,” in fighting extremists, he said. “We urge the international community to assist us.”
Before the meeting, German Minister of Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier outlined the high stakes at hand.
“The key question is whether Libya remains a place where terrorism, criminal human smuggling and instability continue to expand, or if we are able, together with the government of national unity, to recover stability,” he told reporters.
The challenges are daunting.
Libya descended into chaos after the toppling and death of Muammar Qaddafi five years ago and soon turned into a battleground of rival militias battling for power. The power vacuum has allowed the Islamic State group to expand its presence, giving it a potential base in a nation separated from Europe only by a relatively small stretch of the Mediterranean Sea.
Also worrying for Europe is the potential threat of a mass influx of refugees and migrants amassing in Libya, now that the earlier route from Turkey into Greece has been essentially shut down.
British Foreign Secretary David Hammond said his government had received a request from the Libyan government to bolster its coast guard — a project “which will address Libyan concerns about smuggling and insecurity on their border, but will also address European concerns about illegal migration.”
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese