Two days of Libyan peace talks take place without one rival government sending representatives

Bernardino Leon, the UN Special Envoy to Libya resumed talks on forming a Government of National Accord in Skhirat Morocco even though one of two rival governments did not show up.

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The talks are set to finalize what is now called the Libyan Political Agreement, that includes agreeing on the structure and main officials in a Government of National Accord. The GNC informed Leon that they would not attend the present round of talks. The GNC claimed that it needed to reconstruct its negotiating team after two of its members resigned. The GNC said that it was still committed to the dialogue process and would participate in the next session. Leon said that the UN Support Mission in Libya would intensify its contacts with stakeholders in the coming days to help create the final push towards peace.

A Reuters report suggests that there could be little prospect of progress without one of the main sides in the conflict present. This may not be true as the Tobruk government could discuss with other its choices for the prime minister and one deputy. The GNC could also submit names for the other deputy to be chosen by it and also its position on other issues in the annex. Leon insists that he thinks that he would be in a position to have a final agreement by Sept. 10. Delegates told the Libya Herald that the job of choosing the leaders of a new government would go on whether the GNC team was present or not. The president of the GNC had sent Leon a letter demanding that amendments suggested by the GNC be included in a final draft. Leon claims the draft cannot be amended since it has been initialed by other participants but that concerns of the GNC can be addressed during discussion of the annexes to the agreement. While the GNC rejected that route in earlier talks with Leon, it seems that it must now be reconsidering that stance as it has said that it will attend later rounds of the dialogue after it restructures it negotiating team.

This final push will no doubt include further threats against any who dare refuse to cooperate in implementing a non-agreement that only one of two rival governments accepted in the first place. There is no mention by Leon of the parallel military dialogue between forces loyal to the GNC Tripoli-based government and those of the Tobruk internationally-recognized government commanded by former CIA-asset Khalifa Haftar. Libya Dawn the main forces associated with the GNC reject the agreement. Even more ominously, Haftar also rejects the agreement even though his government accepts it. You would think this would result in an immediate firing of Hafter but any attempt to do this could result in a military coup. In fact, Haftarwould like Libya to be run by a military council. He rejects any ceasefire or negotiations with the Tripoli whom he regards as terrorists. Leon does not mention details such as this. His job is to push for formation of a unity government whose purpose is to legitimize foreign intervention in Libya.

The resignation of Saleh Makhzoum as head of the GNC delegation is reported by the Libya Herald the result of disagreement with president Nuri Abu Sahmain over the continued participation in the dialogue. The pro-GNC Libya Observer said no reason was given for the resignation although it was accepted by president Sahmain. Last week the First Deputy Speaker Abdul-Sadiq said that the GNC had decided to boycott the talks until Leon had ensured that the GNC proposed amendments would be included in the final draft. Even though the GNC decided it did not have that assurance and boycotted these talks it nevertheless claims that it will attend the next round. While all this goes on the Arab league is extending military aid to the Tobruk government and Khalifa Haftar, a subject of EU sanctions, signs a military aid agreement with Jordan. Without Haftar sidelined no political agreement is feasible but he continues on with help from Egypt, the UAE, and now Jordan.

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Libyan peace dialogue to resume on Thursday August 27

Bernardino Leon, UN special envoy for Libya, who directs the peace dialogue, has said, after two days of talks earlier in Geneva, that he wants to reach agreement on the fifth draft of a peace agreement by the end of August.

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The Libya Observer, that favours the Tripoli-based General National Council(GNC) government and the Libya Herald that usually favours the internationally-recognized House of Representatives(HoR) based in Tobruk both report that talks, scheduled to start on Monday 24, will instead begin this Thursday 27 in Skhirat Morocco.

Apparently the dialogue was postponed until Thursday after a request from the HoR to hold further discussions on the agreement and Government of National Accord or unity government. According to the Libya Observer, Leon met on Saturday with a 12 member delegation from the HoR to review the formation of the proposed government. Leon reaffirmed his view that international military support to Libya could only be done through the unity government proposed in the peace agreement. Several countries are already planning intervention in Libya and are just waiting to obtain permission from the new government that is supposed to unify the country. Earlier, Leon tried to form the government without one of the two rival governments signing the peace agreement. However, before the Geneva talks he was able to convince the GNC to attend with promises that the final agreement would incorporate amendments they suggested and deal with GNC concerns.

After the GNC delegates returned and discussed Leon's proposed mechanism for dealing with their concerns the GNC vowed not to attend the new talks unless they received written assurances that their amendments would be incorporated in the final draft. It is clear that so far Leon and the HoR take the position there can be no amendments. The dialogue is to go ahead on the basis of the draft that the GNC has consistently rejected since back in July. The fifth draft removes powers given to the GNC by the fourth draft. Amendments were made without the knowledge or approval of the GNC but as demanded by the HoR.

It appears that Leon, as before, might be going ahead without the GNC signing on to the process. He is meeting in Cairo with the 12 Tobruk delegates and also the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Shourky. Egypt is a big supporter of Khalifa Haftar the former CIA asset who now heads the Tobruk armed forces. The Egyptian foreign ministry voiced its support for the peace agreement after the July talks which ended in parties initialling the agreement in the absence of the GNC delegates. The ministry claimed that it showed the positive attitude of those who initialled the agreement. To me it showed that the foreign powers who call the shots want a unity government to go ahead whether a main party to the dispute agrees or not.

Another important diplomat is in Cairo taking part in all these talks US State Department Special Envoy for Libya Jonathan Winer. Winer will discuss coordination between Egypt and the US to solve issues related to Libya including fighting terrorism and combating illegal immigration. Libya (HoR) government and Egypt have been pressing the UN to lift the arms embargo on Libya, and also impose a naval blockade on areas not controlled by the HoR, also to help build the Libyan army commanded by General Haftar.

Haftar may be a thorn in the side of the plans for a unity government. The planned unity government would see him sidelined as commander in chief of the armed forces. Haftar rejects the agreement and has said numerous times that he would never talk to or sign a ceasefire with the Tripoli militia whom he regards as terrorists. The Tripoli militia also reject the agreement. Leon stresses that there must be a military agreement parallel to the political agreement but gives no reports on what he is doing if anything on that issue.

Haftar and his air force chief have been named by the EU as subject to sanctions for their actions against the peace process. Haftar laughed the sanctions off. Well he should as he just recently signed a military agreement with Jordan as one of the moves by the Arab League to help Libya fight terrorists. For Haftar terrorists are not just the Islamic State but also the forces of the rival Tripoli government. Apparently Leon does not know what is going on when he claims that military support for Libya can only be through the proposed unity government. This is pure fantasy to accompany rhetoric of support for the process emanating from his bosses. In reality military support is going to Libya but only to the Haftar forces courtesy of some Arab League countries including Jordan and Egypt. It is going to a commander who is sanctioned by the EU. The US and EU can stand back and pat themselves on the back and claim they are not choosing sides in the civil war. This is pure poppycock.

I just received a message from a Facebook friend in the UK whose father is active in Libyan politics. Apparently there have been exchanges of messages between the president of the GNC Nouri Abusahmain and Leon. The president said that he "appreciates the smooth flow of increasing numbers of letters" between the two. He noted that the letters say how important the dialogue is but still are not addressing the concerns that the GNC had brought forth in an earlier meeting in Algiers. Thanks to my friend for translating part of the letter from the Arabic.It remains to be seen if as in the last dialogue round the GNC is convinced to go at the last minute by Leon.

Tripoli-based General National Congress government to boycott scheduled Libya peace talks

The Tripoli-based General National Congress(GNC) government has decided that it will not attend upcoming dialogue talks that will be held to further implementation of an agreement on the formation of a Government of National Accord.

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The dialogue process has been directed by the UN special envoy to Libya, Bernardino Leon. Two days of dialogue last week brought all the parties together after the GNC had received assurances from Leon that its suggested amendments to the draft agreement would be incorporated in any final agreement. While the meetings ended on a positive note with no parties leaving until the end, the GNC remains unconvinced that its proposed amendments will be included in any final draft. Until Leon provides such assurance, the GNC will boycott upcoming meetings to further the implementation of the agreement.

The latest fifth draft of the agreement is an amended version of the fourth draft and includes amendments supported by the internationally recognized House of Representatives(HoR) government based in Tobruk. The amendments remove powers that the GNC had in the earlier draft. Even though the changes caused the GNC to walk out of dialogue talks, Leon went ahead and had others including the HoR initial the agreement in July. So far Leon has not agreed to any further amendments and has tried to convince the GNC that its concerns can be met during discussion of the annexes to the agreement that involve formation of the government and implementation of the agreement. Earlier in meetings with Leon the GNC had rejected that approach. First Deputy President of the GNC, Awad Abdul-Sadiq, said:"The GNC has made a lot of concessions to stop bloodshed and solve the crisis, if the UNSMIL head Leon didn't give a chance for inclusion of all GNC amendments, I would hold the UNSMIL and its chief responsible for the failure of the dialogue which then will not be binding."

There is supposed to be a parallel military dialogue alongside the political dialogue. The UN envoy often reports little or nothing as to what is happening. There is nothing on the United Nations Support Mission in Libya(UNSMIL) site about the GNC refusal to participate in upcoming meetings. There is nothing about when the meetings will be held either. They will probably be held in Skhirat Morroco, the site of earlier meetings. On the military dialogue there is complete silence even though without agreement of the Tripoli militia Libya Dawn and the armed forces of the HoR government commanded by CIA-linked General Khalifa Haftar, no political agreement can be implemented. Haftar calls the Tripoli militia terrorists and will not negotiate with them or agree to a ceasefire. Both he and the Libya Dawn militia have rejected the peace agreement. The HoR government has accepted it.

There is no reporting on what is happening with the dialogue process. Press attention is all on the Islamic State(IS) and its supposed threat. However, IS has recently suffered a huge setback in the loss of its first and main base in the city of Derna. They were driven out by rival Islamists into the surrounding area. While IS occupies Sirte, it is hardly expanding its territory after recent gains and is now plagued by uprisings by Sirte citizens, which it put down with great brutality apparently. The issue of what is happening in the dialogue has disappeared from press radar for now. There could be some fanfare should Leon reconvene the dialogue participants without the GNC delegates. The best that could happen now is that Leon is able to find a way to accommodate GNC concerns so that all the participants gather in Skhirat. Leon hopes to finalize the agreement by the end of this month.

Geneva Libya dialogue talks end on positive notes with all sides present

After meeting for two days at the UN offices in Geneva, participants in the latest round of the Libyan Political Dialogue concluded discussions yesterday. Bernardino Leon, the UN special representative to Libya, presided over the talks.

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At first, it appeared the dialogue would take place without the presence of one of the main rival governments, the General National Congress(GNC) government located in Tripoli. At the last moment, the GNC decided to send delegates after Leon assured them in a letter that the amendments they wanted in the draft would be considered at the meeting. The main purpose of the meeting originally was to deal with annexes to the draft that other parties have initialed. Leon, to his credit, was able to hold two days of talks without any party leaving in a huff, as often has happened in the past.

As often is the case, the UN news release radiates optimism:The talks were held in a positive atmosphere, with the different parties emphasising the need to set aside partisan agendas and uphold Libya’s higher national interests. The parties reiterated their conviction that there can be no alternative to peace in Libya outside this dialogue process, which sets the framework for a comprehensive political settlement that is achieved through consensus.The parties have a target date of concluding the dialogue process within the next three weeks. This would lead to the parties adopting what is being called the Libyan Political Agreement. The release said that this would be followed by "its formal endorsement at the beginning of September." Typically, the release does not give the critical information as to who is required to give formal endorsement. Is it the two rival parliaments as the GNC understands it or just the internationally-recognized HoR government in Tobruk, as the HoR side understands and in accordance with the terms of the draft agreement as it is now?

The news release notes the importance of what is called the security track of the dialogue. The only progress so far has been Leon meeting with some Misrata military commanders without notifying or getting the approval of the Tripoli general staff. This appears a clear attempt to split the Tripoli military. He was also to meet with unspecified members of the Tobruk forces in Cairo. He never reported back. The news release fails to note that Libya Dawn the main Tripoli militia rejected the agreement as did the Tobruk head of the armed forces Khalifa Haftar and the head of the air force. Haftar has often said that the Tripoli militia are terrorists and that he will not sign a ceasefire with them or even talk to them. The EU has named Haftar and his air force commander along with several associated with Tripoli to be sanctioned. Haftar claims not to care. The parties are now told they should ensure their military officials "commence consultations with the United Nations Support Mission in Libya and provide their inputs on ways of operationalizing the security arrangements outlined in the Libyan Political Agreement." Given that the armed forces of both governments do not even accept the agreement it is not clear how the politicians can do this. If either legislature tries to fire those military commanders opposed to the agreement the end result could be a military coup.

Although the GNC has insisted that there should be amendments to the draft before they would consider the annexes and choosing of prime minister and two deputies, the Libya Observer, a pro-Tripoli news outlet, has now used rather different language.The head of GNC dialogue team Saleh Al-Makhzoom told reporters following the talks that his team had received a formal letter from the head of UNSMIL Bernardino Leon explaining a mechanism for inclusion of GNC amendments in the UNSMIL draft.

"Our team will return to Tripoli to discuss this mechanism."There was no mention of amendments in the UNSMIL release. The Observer also takes the annoying tack of not explaining what this mechanism might be. Before the UN had suggested that GNC concerns could be incorporated in discussing the annexes. The GNC had rejected that idea. The obvious mechanism for incorporating amendments into a draft is through amending the draft. However, the HoR and others are against that. The pro-Tobruk Libya Herald insists there will be no amendments and that the GNC was told that by Leon.

There are three main concerns of the GNC according to the Herald. First, are the decisions of the HoR since it began in August of last year. These decisions include the naming of Haftar as commander of the HoR armed forces. There is no way the GNC or many other would accept Haftar as the commander of the armed forces. The agreement does not envision this in any case but if all HoR decisions are legal there would be a conflict that the HoR could decide in favor of Haftar and no doubt if things get that far Haftar would insist on this. The GNC is also concerned about the appointment of rival heads of the neutral sovereign institutions, the National Oil Company and the Central Bank of Libya. Finally, the GNC would like to see the State Council in which the GNC would have a majority to have some real power in the new government. Its role under the present draft is advisory but under the earlier legislation HoR legislation could be blocked by a majority vote against it in the State Council. The Libya Herald sums up the situation as follows:According to other delegates in Geneva yesterday, it had been given assurances by Leon that its concerns could be addressed in the annexes to the Draft, still to be worked out.The GNC team returns to Tripoli today, armed with a letter from Leon, to explain the situation and await a vote on whether it can rejoin the next set of talks, to be held again in the Moroccan resort of Skhirat.These will work out and approve the annexes that will also contain the names of the new prime minister, two deputy prime ministers and other members of the government.

Leon tried before to convince the GNC that its concerns could be addressed through discussion of the annexes to the agreement. The GNC had rejected this and according to reports had demanded amendments in a letter to Leon and had been assured they would be incorporated in the final draft. Now it seems that there indeed will be no amendments to the final draft but some "mechanism" by which they will be incorporated. It remains to be seen if this "mechanism" will meet the approval of the GNC government and convince them to continue in the talks to resume soon in Skhirat, Morocco.

Tripoli government to attend Geneva Libya peace talks but problems remain

The Libyan peace talks in Geneva designed to forge an agreement on a Government of National Accord and end the political and military conflict between two rival governments have been postponed one day until August 11.

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UN special envoy to Libya, Bernardino Leon, appears to have changed direction at the very last moment. He seemed again convene a meeting without the attendance of representatives from the Tripoli-based General Nation Congress(GNC). Earlier in July, he had representatives from the internationally-recognized government and others initial an agreement without the participation of the GNC government who demanded that amendments they had presented be considered. The GNC left the dialogue after a round in which they were presented with an amended fourth draft of the agreement which removed the powers they had been given in that draft. They had neither been consulted on or given their approval to the amendments Leon apparently told the GNC the draft could not be amended because it had been initialed by the other participants. This is the understanding of the internationally-recognized House of Representatives(HoR) based in Tobruk as well. Leon has never clarified what his position is. No doubt he wanted to leave this unclear. He perhaps hoped the GNC group would attend even without a guarantee their amendments would be considered but he was wrong. The GNC wrote to him after a meeting yesterday demanding that they be given written assurances their amendments be considered or they would not attend. Leon gave in too late to convene a meeting today as was planned.

The pro-HoR government Libya Herald reports along with the pro-GNC Libya Observer that the GNC will now send delegates to Geneva. Leon in response to the letter from GNC president Abu Sahmain, that he welcomed the participation of the GNC in the Geneva meetings in order to find a mechanism to include its amendments in the draft. It is difficult to see how this could happen without the draft itself being amended. Deputy president of the GNC Saleh Al-Makhzoom confirmed that GNC representatives would go to Geneva and that Sahmain had replied to Leon's letter confirming the GNC's attendance at the talks.

The Libya Herald notes that while the GNC group is attending the talks and wants to continue the dialogue it rejects the draft as it is and demands changes. There was according to the Herald considerable conflict at the GNC meeting with at least one member wanting the GNC to accept the draft as it was. After this Sunday meeting president Sahmain sent the letter to Leon informing him that the GNC would attend only if its amendments were considered and included in the draft. According to the Herald, the HoR will accept no changes to the text of the draft. Just how an agreement can be reached when one party demands changes to the draft while the other party rejects any changes we will find out tomorrow or a day or so after. There may be no agreement at all. Even if there is an agreement it will be empty until there is a parallel military agreement between the military forces of Tripoli and those of the HoR government headed by Khalifa Haftar. Both he and the Tripoli forces of Libya Dawn that he calls terrorists reject the agreement. Leon has given up reporting on his parallel military dialogue!

Libyan peace dialogue resumes on August 10

After consulting with relevant stakeholders and also international partners, Bernardino Leon, special UN envoy to Libya, announced there would be a new round of dialogue talks on Monday August 10. The location of the talks was not announced.

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The United Nations Support Mission in Libya(UNSMIL) claims there had been "significant progress to date within the framework of the dialogue process." The progress includes a non-agreement that was rejected by one of the two rival governments, the General National Congress government based in Tripoli. While the internationally-recognized government based in Tobruk accepted the draft peace agreement, Kahlifa Haftar, commander of the armed forces, and the air force head have rejected it. Leon no longer bothers to report on a supposed parallel military dialogue between armed forces of the Tripoli and Tobruk government. Haftar refuses to talk with Tripoli's Libya Dawn militia and vows that he will not agree to a ceasefire with them. He considers them terrorists. The "significant process" so far is to isolate the GNC government by having other parties initial an agreement that Leon must have known the government could not sign.

A great deal of pressure has been placed upon parties to sign the agreement. The EU has even named five people, three associated with the Tripoli government plus Khalifa Haftar and commander of the air force of the Tobruk government, as subject to sanctions. However, the GNC government insists the present draft must be amended in accordance with their concerns. The GNC favored an earlier fourth draft but this was amended to remove powers the GNC would have had in the earlier version. This was done apparently so that the Tobruk government would return to the dialogue since it objected to the fourth draft. The amendments were made without any consultation with or the approval of the GNC. The GNC rejected the fifth draft.

The UNSMIL press release said Leon is urging the main parties to continue efforts to narrow their differences and to create a common platform that would form the basis for a peaceful resolution to both the political and military conflict in Libya. Leon does note that some parties have reservations about what has been achieved to date. That is an understatement. All the parties should have reservations about an "agreement" that is not agreed to by one of the two main parties in conflict. The agreement is simply a platform to form a so-called government of national accord that is then supposed to approve military involvement in Libya by the anonymous "foreign partners" mentioned in press release as being involved in the dialogue. Leon talks of resolving concerns "within the framework of the dialogue process." He does not say whether this involves amending the draft initialed by other participants as demanded by the GNC or requires working within the framework of the draft without amendments. The GNC insists Leon agreed to amendments. Other parties, and Leon in the past, have said it cannot be amended.Leon refuses to clarify his position but ends with typical optimism, stressing that any political settlement would include guarantees designed to reassure the different parties regarding any outstanding concerns they may have.

The Libya Observer, a pro-Tripoli news outlet, said it was not known whether the GNC delegation would attend the new sessions even though GNC delegates had met with Leon earlier in the week in Algiers. While the GNC has claimed it is still committed to the dialogue process, it also demands amendments to the present agreement before it will initial it. Leon seems to be trying to convince the GNC that their concerns can be addressed within the present agreement. At Algiers, the GNC rejected that view and demanded amendments. The GNC view is as follows:The General National Congress has indicated that it is necessary that the UNSMIL adopt its amendments to the draft in order to pursue its participation in the dialogue.Saleh Al-Makhzoum, the Second Vice Speaker of the GNC said in a Tripoli press conference Saturday that the GNC told the UNSMIL that it will go on participating in the dialogue rounds as per the principles set before.

According to the Libya Herald the new dialogue round will discuss who should be the Prime Minister and the two Deputy Prime Ministers in the new Government of National Accord. These three would then select government ministers in cooperation with the dialogue members. The Herald, which is usually pro-Tobruk, sums up one of the main difficulties facing attempts to have the GNC government sign on to what the Herald calls the Leon Plan: The HoR would remain the primary legislature, but HoR members objected to Draft Four of the Leon Plan which had powers being given to a State Council, made up largely of former GNC members. HoR members are much happier with the fifth draft which downgrades the State Council to an advice-only body, but unsurprisingly the GNC has said no.Leon amended the fourth draft to please the HoR so it is not surprising they signed the agreement while the GNC has not. Surely Leon must have known this would happen. The Herald claims the GNC is now boycotting the proceedings and that Leon will go ahead with the choice of a Prime Minister and two deputies without them. If this is true this makes a mockery of the dialogue process. It will spell the end of any possibility of a political solution that would involve the GNC, Leon is trying to make peace without the participation of either of the two main military forces in conflict or one of the main competing governments. A recipe for continued civil war and disaster all orchestrated by the "foreign partners" who are probably using Leon to forge a solution acceptable to them and that will pave the way for a foreign intervention. Perhaps, the GNC representatives will show up at the resumed dialogue meetings and attempt to have the draft amended or work out some compromise. This is the only hope for a political solution. Even if this happens there is still no military dialogue or agreement that could ensure the political agreement was carried out.

UN special envoy discusses peace agreement with representatives of Tripoli government

Special envoy to Libya of the UN, Bernardino Leon, is meeting with representatives of the General National Congress(GNC) parliament. The GNC government is based in Tripoli. The talks are in Algiers, Algeria.

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The GNC parliament is a rival to the House of Representatives(HoR), the internationally-recognized government located in the eastern city of Tobruk. Representatives of the HoR initialled a draft agreement back on July 11 along with some others but the GNC negotiators did not participate and demanded amendments be made. The draft agreement that they had been asked to sign had been altered so as to remove any real power from the GNC, in contrast to the original fourth draft to which they reacted positively. On the other hand, the HoR had demanded amendments to the draft before they would return to the dialogue. Amendments were made without consultation with the GNC or their consent. When the GNC members read the changed documents they walked away from the dialogue. Leon has claimed that since the draft was initialled by the other parties, it must form the basis for the planned Government of National Accord and cannot be amended even though one main party did not agree to it.

The UNSMIL site issued a short press release on the meeting:The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya, Bernardino Leon, will hold consultations later on Thursday, 30 July 2015 and Friday 31 July 2015 in Algiers with representatives of the General National Congress to discuss ways to reinforce and move forward the dialogue process.The GNC delegation was headed by Nuri Abusahmein and would discuss "the latest developments concerning the political dialogue brokered by the UN." While Leon says that the document cannot be amended, there are many issues that remain to be settled. The prime minister and the two deputies have yet to be named or other members of the Government of National Accord. Leon could offer some incentives by promising them certain positions although it might be difficult for Leon to deliver on any promises.

The issue of the role of General Khalifa Haftar, as head of the Libyan Armed Forces, will be of key importance. Under the agreement the role of commander in chief of the Libyan Armed Forces is reserved for a group of officials from the new government but Haftar insists that his legitimacy comes fromm his appointment by the House of Representatives. While there is a provision in the agreement that previous HoR legislation that conflicts with the new agreement can be ruled invalid, it is unlikely that the HoR would agree to this. Leon no doubt will claim that Haftar will not be the new commander of the Libyan Armed Forces but until that becomes a reality any such promise will be empty.

Even if Leon does offer some carrots for the GNC to sign on to the agreement, it is likely that the GNC will insist on broader changes that restore some power of the GNC to control legislation from the HoR as was present in the unamended fourth draft. Meanwhile Haftar rejects the draft, and dismisses the move of the EU to sanction himself and his air force chief. Leon has said nothing about the parallel military dialogue that he admits is necessary for any political solution. Neither Libya Dawn nor Haftar accept the recent agreement. Haftar says he will not negotiate with nor agree to a ceasefire with Libya Dawn. Given that Haftar has rejected the same agreement that HoR representatives initialed, one would think he and the air force chief would be fired immediately. No sign of that.

UN envoy to Libya Leon claims new peace agreement cannot be amended

Tripoli - A few days ago a group of participants in a Libyan peace dialogue initialed the fifth draft of an agreement to form a Government of National Accord.

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Negotiators representing the internationally-recognized House of Representatives(HoR) were present but the other rival government of the General National Congress(GNC) in Tripoli did not attend. The dialogue was intended to facilitate an agreement between the two rival governments for a unity government.that both would support. Yet the UN promoted signing of an agreement that only one party had agreed to.The GNC insists that it will not participate in further dialogue processes until the amendments they presented are seriously discussed. In an article back on July 2, I discussed some of the shameful actions of Leon and suggested that the UN appeared to be arranging the situation as if they did not want the GNC to sign. Whether deliberate or not that is what happened and should not come as a surprise to anyone who observed the antics of Leon after production of the fourth draft agreement. He amended it in a manner that took power from the GNC and gave even more to the Tobruk government. Now he claims that there can be no further amendments to the agreement, ensuring that Tripoli representatives have no reason to return to the dialogue except to cave in and initial the document.

Even though, as mentioned, the UN-sponsored dialogue was supposedly designed to produce a political solution to the conflict between the competing rival governments, in the end, only one of the two party's initialed the agreement. Nevertheless, the agreement is widely praised with even the UN Security Council supporting it. All this shows is that the big powers like it, not that it makes any sense or will work. Along with earlier cheerleaders for the draft now Turkey has given its support and China. Less surprising is Egypt's praise for the deal since it has long supported the commander of the Libyan armed forces Khalifa Haftar and the Tobruk government.

The agreement talks about cease fires and disarming militias and withdrawal of armed forces from cities. Long ago Leon noted that there was a parallel dialogue he was arranging with the military forces of each group. All he has reported on so far is a meeting with commanders in Misrata associated with the Tripoli government. In his report he does not mention that he met with the group without consulting the Tripoli government or the senior command of its forces. He said he was meeting with representatives of Tobruk forces in Cairo. He did not mention any names and he has not given any further report even though weeks have passed since.

Libya Dawn the main militia associated with the Tripoli government have not accepted the UN document. Khalifa Haftar has said many times that he will neither agree to a ceasefire with Libya Dawn nor will he negotiate with them. There is not much hope of a parallel dialogue given these facts but Leon does not even speak about what is going on nor has he reported anything for weeks since he met with Misrata commanders. There is a problem for Haftar in that the agreement for the Government of National Accord gives the function of Commander in Chief of the Libyan Armed forces to the new government:2. Terms of Reference of the Presidency Council of the Council of Ministers:

a. Assume the functions of the Supreme Commander of the Libyan army

However Haftar recently at a meeting of commanders speaking about the UNSMIL draft agreement suggests his status and legitimacy comes from his appointment by the HoR: He began by saying that the armed forces should be above the political process. They drew their legitimacy, he said, from the elected parliament. However, when he turned to the need to ensure national security, he added that politicians should be prevented from interfering in army affairs.All the previous legislation of the HoR will be valid and this would include the appointment of Haftar unless the legislation conflicts with the agreement which this seems to do. However, it is unlikely the House of Representatives would agree that Haftar's appointment is not valid. If they do agree to that Haftar might just see to it that the Tobruk parliament is burned down just as happened in Tripoli when he disagreed with the Tripoli parliament in May 2014. Ironically, the present Prime Minister of the Tobruk government Abdullah al-Thinni, who appointed Haftar, was prime minister at the time of the burning. There was a warrant out for the arrest of Haftar at the time. It was never carried out.