Libya

The UN envoy for Libya hopes an international conference next month will produce a Security Council resolution committing foreign powers to stopping an escalating proxy war and an accelerated mechanism to enforce an arms embargo. The conference, organised by Germany, is set to be the first major diplomatic push to end fighting that began when eastern-based forces led by Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive on Tripoli six months ago.

Libya’s current conflict is emerging as a very different one to what has been fought before in the country, or the world. Fleets of long-range drones carry out strikes, cyber-attacks proclaim the end of governments, and social media propaganda has become all-consuming.

The Council today extended the mandate of EUNAVFOR MED Operation Sophia by six months, until 31 March 2020. The deployment of the Operation's naval assets will remain temporarily suspended, as EU member states continue to work in the appropriate fora on a solution on disembarkation as part of the follow-up to the June 2018 European Council conclusions.

Libya's conflict has increasingly become a proxy war between foreign powers, which have been backing various armed groups since the 2011 uprising against Moammar Gadhafi. … Egypt, along with the United Arab Emirates, is a supporter of Libyan eastern commander Khalifa Haftar, whose Libya National Army (LNA) has been trying to take Tripoli from forces allied with the internationally recognized government (GNA). Turkey and Qatar both back the GNA.

The Security Council today decided to extend until 15 September 2020 the mandate of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) as an integrated special political mission to support an inclusive political process in Libya and continued implementation of the Libyan Political Agreement.

The Security Council today decided to extend until 15 September 2020 the mandate of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) as an integrated special political mission to support an inclusive political process in Libya and continued implementation of the Libyan Political Agreement.

Ambassadors representing member states will meet in Brussels on Thursday to discuss extending the mandate of the defunct and boatless Naval Operation Sophia.

It is five months to the day since the forces of the self-styled Libyan National Army launched an offensive to seize control of Tripoli, halting “an active and promising political process”, the United Nations top envoy for the country told the Security Council on Wednesday.

Libya's airport authorities say they have closed the only functional airport in the capital, Tripoli, a day after it was hit by shelling amid clashes between rival armed groups fighting for control of the city.

The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has said he fears Libya will end up in a "full civil war" unless moves are soon made to end the conflict. "Unless action is taken in the near term, it is highly likely that the current conflict will escalate into full civil war," Guterres said on Thursday in his latest report on the UN Support Mission in Libya.