Trump administration goes for ‘360 degree’ diplomacy to help end Libya war
White House calls for cease-fire as Egypt-Turkey rivalry spills over into eastern Mediterranean.
The Trump administration waded even deeper into the Libya conflict this week, backing UN calls for a cease-fire amid the many factions, and signaling again that the country’s oil fields are off limits to those seeking to profit on the war.
The US initiative is well timed, with signs of an escalation of fighting between the Libyan Government of National Accord, which is recognized by the UN and backed by Turkey, and the insurgent forces of former general Khalifa Hifter, who has the support of Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Russia and France.
Libya’s also become the world’s most dangerous proxy war, ground zero in an increasingly militarized regional contest between Cairo and Ankara that is spreading to the eastern Mediterranean and to Turkey’s borders.
And then there’s Russia, which, while backing Hifter, has also sought to position itself as broker of an eventual settlement, with its eyes apparently on a cut of Libyan’s oil revenues.
