Libyan government wants arms embargo lifted
In an interview with Al-Monitor, the spokesman for the interim Libyan government, Hatem al-Oraibi, discusses the need for the international community to lift the embargo imposed on the Libyan army and allow it to fight terrorist groups.
With the militant group Libya Dawn in control of Tripoli, Libyan parties are trying, under the brokerage of UN Special Representative and head of the UN Support Mission in Libya Bernardino Leon, to reach a political solution to end the crisis over the two parliaments and governments in Libya.
While the dialogue opened in January between the Libyan General National Congress (GNC), the parliament in Tobruk, municipal councils, some armed militias and most of the parties to the conflict are suffering political disputes, Tripoli witnesses daily bloody battles between the national military and Libya Dawn. The Libyan forces led by Gen. Khalifa Hifter’s group are trying in vain to regain control over the capital.
While the internationally recognized Libyan parliament declared on May 4 its acceptance in principle of the draft political deal prepared by Leon (with some remarks), the future of the dialogue and its success depend on the GNC, whose term has ended. The GNC had refused this draft back in April, following the dialogue sessions in the Moroccan city of Skhirat, pushing the solution efforts back to zero.
Al-Monitor tried to shed light on the Libyan crisis in an interview with Hatem al-Oraibi, spokesman for the internationally recognized interim Libyan government.
