UN-sponsored Libyan Government of National Accord meets in Tunis

Faiez Serraj held a meeting of senior officials of the Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tunis. Officially, it was the first, although there have apparently already been three previous meetings.

Those at the meeting included Ali Al-Gutruni, Musa Al-Koni, Ahmed Maetig, Fathi Al-Mijabri, Abdulsalam Kajman, Omar Al-Aswad and Ahmed Hamza. The participants discussed ways in which the GNA could progress, internal work processes, and the priorities for the coming days. The GNA has to present its program and names of the government members to the present internationally-recognized government, the House of Representatives (HoR), within 30 days of the signing of the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA). The HoR must give a vote of confidence in the GNA before its term begins. The LPA was signed on December 17 in Skhirat, Morocco so there are less than three weeks left. Martin Kobler, the Special Representative for the Secretary General (SRSG) for Libya, does not bother to mention the meeting on the UNSMIL website. The site does not bother to mention the fact that the HoR has already met twice and failed to vote on the LPA because there was no quorum even though the UN claims that a majority of the HoR support the LPA. At the last meeting 25 of 188 members of the HoR attended.

Neither of the two rival parliaments have signed the LPA. The LPA was signed by members of the Libya Political Dialgoue who for almost a year had been trying to negotiate a political agreement together with a unity government that both parliaments would agree to. A final draft of the LPA was presented to both governments by the former UN envoy Bernardino Leon but never approved. After he took over on November 17, Kobler tried in vain to get the same draft approved. It was then that Kobler gathered together members of the dialogue who supported the draft and had them sign in Skhirat. The agreement was later supported by the UN Security Council and a meeting of many foreign ministers in Rome. Those signing who were from the two rival governments were not authorized to sign by their respective parliaments. As I pointed out in an earlier article, many mainstream reports had the basic facts about what happened wrong. Many, including the Wall Street Journal and Deutsche Welle, spoke of the two rival parliaments signing the agreement. Deutsche Welle continues to ignore the facts in an article on January 3 which suggests German troops could provide training for GNA security forces:In December, the two governments signed an initial UN-brokered agreement to form a unity government with the aim of bringing back peace in the country.

No such thing happened. How an organization such as DW can continue printing outright falsehoods, I simply cannot fathom. Authors of their reports cannot have even the most basic knowledge of what is happening in Libya.

Kobler said that as soon as the security situation was better in Libya, he imagined Germany would help train security officers. Kobler did not exclude the possibility of international troops being deployed against IS militants in Libya. Kobler is still based in Tunis, as is the GNA, but claimed he would move to Libya, presumably Tripoli, within a few days: "I will move with a small team of employees to Libya as soon as possible." He had better make sure he has adequate security arrangements and the permission of the GNC. On New Year's day he was kicked out of Tripoli for holding an unauthorized news conference.

Martin Kobler