Libyan politicians sign UN peace deal to unify rival governments

A group of Libyan politicians have signed a United Nations-sponsored peace deal that nominally unifies the country’s two rival governments, despite being denounced as illegitimate by some of the groups the agreement is meant to unite.

Members of Libya’s two competing parliaments met in Morocco to sign the deal. Supporters say it will hasten the end of an 18-month civil war, as well as five years of political violence that followed the uprising against the late former dictator, Muammar Gadafy.

Western powers hope a united Libya will allow the country's warring militias to instead focus on eradicating an Islamic State franchise that has seized power on parts of the country's coast.

But the sustainability of the deal has been thrown into doubt after key players not present at the signing ceremony said it was an agreement enforced on Libya by external powers.

Air strike invite

Britain hopes the unity government, to be run by a nine-strong presidency, will invite western powers to mount air strikes against Islamic State positions, allowing prime minister David Cameron to avoid another Commons vote before dispatching RAF jets.

The deal was accepted on Thursday by some members of Libya Dawn, the rebel coalition that seized power in Tripoli in July 2014 and forced the internationally recognised government to retreat to the eastern city of Tobruk.

But Jamal Zubia, the rebel government spokesman, claimed those who signed the unity deal did not speak for the Tripoli faction and were merely puppets for the international community.

“People who are signing this UN draft – none of them have any authority,” Mr Zubia said. “When you send unauthorised people to sign, it’s a fake document.”

He added: “If they want a democratic country, they must do it in a democratic way; they can’t force us to accept it. If they want to make it a colony, then call it a colony, but don’t pass it to us as a gift from the UN.”

Other factions were more supportive.

Hatem al-Oraibi, the spokesman for the Tobruk government, said: “We support all the efforts that are being done for the sake of reunifying Libya during this critical phase.”

Analysts warn that the unity government will come up against many of the same problems that the previous internationally recognised government faced.

Military support

Without a cohesive state-run police force and army under its control, the new government may not be able to meet in Tripoli without the support of sympathetic militias.

This could perpetuate the involvement of militias in political affairs, an inherently unstable arrangement that goes against the peace deal’s long- term goals.

Frederic Wehrey, a specialist on Libya at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said: “The danger is that it becomes yet another third body that has to meet outside the capital or, even worse, outside the country.

“There is a plan for [local] armed actors to help secure the new government,” Mr Wehrey said. “But the problem is that the actual army and police are quite weak, so we would be relying on militias again.

“And that’s the larger issue – how do you create a security force under the control of the authorities, while at the same time demobilising the militias?” – (Guardian service)