UN envoy warns of ‘long and bloody war’ in Libya

UNITED NATIONS, United States: The UN envoy for Libya warned Tuesday the battle for Tripoli was “just the start of a long and bloody war” and called for immediate steps to cut off arms flows fueling the fighting.

Addressing the Security Council, Ghassan Salame said many countries were supplying weapons to the UN-recognized government in Tripoli and forces led by Khalifa Haftar. Haftar, who is backed by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, launched an offensive on April 4 to seize the capital but his forces have been bogged down in the southern outskirts of Tripoli. “I am no Cassandra, but the violence on the outskirts of Tripoli is just the start of a long and bloody war on the southern shores of the Mediterranean, imperiling the security of Libya´s immediate neighbors and the wider Mediterranean region,” Salame said. Without immediate action to stop the flow of arms, “Libya will descend into civil war which could potentially lead to a Hobbesian all-against-all state of chaos or partition of the country,” he said. His appeal came after the Tripoli-based government of national accord posted photographs at the weekend of dozens of Turkish-made armored vehicles that it said on its Facebook page were fresh deliveries for its fighters.

Pro-Haftar websites also posted photos and video footage of Jordanian-built armored cars they said were supplied to the Libyan National Army, Haftar´s self-styled militia based in the east. UN experts earlier this month said in a confidential report to the council that missiles fired at pro-Tripoli forces in April pointed to a likely drone attack that could involve a “third party,” possibly the United Arab Emirates.