Libya floods: aid effort overcomes east-west rift

Libya’s rival governments, based in Tripoli in the west and in Tobruk in the east, have agreed to co-operate to get international aid to flood-devastated Derna.

“Both governments have reached out to the international community requesting services and help,” International Organisation for Migration spokesman Tauhid Pasha told the BBC.

The crisis has compelled the UN-backed National Unity government of prime minister Abdul Hamid Dbeiba to make common cause with prime minister Osama Hammad, whose administration is based in the east of the country.

Hammad leads the defected house of representatives which is empowered by rebel Libyan National Army commander Gen Khalifa Haftar.

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Haftar served in Nato-sponsored forces which ousted Libya’s 42-year leader Muammer Gaddafi during 2011 Arab Spring unrest. He revolted against Libya’s fundamentalist-backed General National Council (GNC) when it refused to cede power after 18 months. Defeated fundamentalists disputed the outcome of the 2014 parliamentary elections and seized control of Tripoli. The parliament moved to Tobruk.

GNC loyalists then set up a rival assembly and Haftar launched a military campaign to capture jihadist-held cities and towns. Following UN mediation, a government of National Accord was formed in Tripoli. It is rejected by Haftar but recognised by the Security Council, western powers and pro-Muslim Brotherhood Turkey and Qatar.

Gen Haftar has been supported by anti-Brotherhood Egypt and the Emirates, Jordan, and Russia’s Wagner group.

The civil conflict ended in a ceasefire in 2020 but the Tripoli-Tobruk rivalry and division has persisted, complicating relief and rescue efforts in Derna - which lies in the east of the country.

While the Tripoli government is the formal authority, the UN, international charities and foreign governments dispatch rescue teams and material aid through rebel Benghazi in the east, 293 kilometres from Derna. The aid effort has, so far, overcome the Tripoli-Tobruk rift.

Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, and the UAE have provided search-and-rescue teams and medical aid. Algeria, Italy, Kuwait, Spain, Tunisia, and Britain have sent food, equipment, and emergency experts. Turkey and Qatar have flown in aid. France has sent a field hospital and medics. Germany, Romania, and Finland have given tents, blankets, and food. The US has channelled support through the UN while its emergency fund has allocated $10 million.