Libya - G. Salamé: the most worrying is "the division of the Security Council" - RFI

By RFIPosted on 20-04-2019Modified on 20-04-2019 at 18:05

In Libya, new fighting on the outskirts of Tripoli took place this Saturday, April 20th. Forces loyal to the Tripoli-based Fayez el-Sarraj government have launched a counter-offensive to respond to Marshal Haftar's operations since April 4 in the direction of the capital. Meanwhile, the international community appears increasingly divided on the subject and unable to unite, if only to decide on a ceasefire or the opening of a humanitarian corridor. At the time the White House reveals the existence of a telephone conversation between Donald Trump and Marshal Haftar, UN Special Representative for Libya, Ghassan Salamé, said he is saddened by the extreme divisions that were again illustrated Thursday last, to the Security Council.

Marie-Pierre Olphand: What was your reaction when you learned that there was direct contact between the US President and Marshal Haftar?

Ghassan Salamé : I was not quite surprised because we were aware that there had previously been contacts with his national security adviser and that other contacts had taken place at the level of counter-terrorism between the bodies that deal with that in the United States and Mr. Haftar.

Donald Trump says to share with Marshal Haftar a common vision for a democratic future for Libya, is it difficult to hear for you ?

I do not want to pass judgment as a representative of the United Nations in Libya.

Will this support from the United States to Marshal Haftar complicate the work of the UN ?

What complicates the work of the UN is the extreme division within the Security Council. I was in a closed session two days ago (Thursday night exactly) I pushed as hard as I could, and that's my role, for a ceasefire or at least a humanitarian truce, for A resolution to this effect and I discovered a very divided Security Council that greatly limited the possibilities of the UN Secretary-General and his representative on the ground to move towards a ceasefire or a return to the table. negotiations. The United States did not want the English project, Russia either, and maybe not for the same reasons, there were three African countries present who wanted the African Union to be mentioned. In short, a Security Council that went in all directions and this worries me to the highest degree. The division of the international community, assuming it exists, worries me as much as the fighting on the ground. It must be said that the German presidency did everything it could to help me, it pushed for a humanitarian truce, but most of the countries present did not want it.

What is the position of France, we know that the Saraj government accuses him of supporting Marshal Haftar, what game does she play at the UN ?

At the UN, France says it supports the secretary general and his representative. I saw a few things in that sense, but I must admit that in the field, there may be something else. Me, I can only be content with what I am told, I can not afford to see what is happening on the ground. It is true that the Minister of the Interior of the Government of Tripoli is angry with France, he must have his reasons. You know, the United Nations does not have an intelligence service to monitor each other, and as far as I'm concerned, I remember that France supports the United Nations activity in Libya. I believe that most countries on the Libyan case are not fully transparent.

In view of these open support to Marshal Haftar internationally, Fayez El Saraj seems more and more isolated. Is he still the man on which the UN can rely ?

Until there is another UN resolution, I can not work with him. There is a UN resolution that invites me to consider it the legitimate government of the country. This resolution I must apply. That did not stop us as a Libya mission to open an office in Benghazi, to try to open an office in Sebha in the south and to get in touch with all the political forces in the country.

Should there be a resolution for Marshal Haftar to be included, officially playing a role ?

For the moment, the Security Council is unable to resolve to decide on a ceasefire, not even a humanitarian truce. It is unlikely at the moment that it will completely overturn the political order.

Is it because of these divisions that the international community does not agree to protect Tripoli, whereas it did in 2011 to save Benghazi ?

This is what people are asking us, this is what I pleaded to the Security Council the day before yesterday with a lot of strengths and arguments, but you should know that the world order that existed in 2011 n exists in 2019. The international system has changed dramatically.

Will the end of the stalemate depend, more than yesterday, on the international support of Marshal Haftar ?

It is first the Libyans who will dictate the outcome and the Libyans are divided too, it is not only the Security Council. There are Libyans who support Marshal Haftar, there are Libyans who came out by the thousands last night to demonstrate against him in the streets of Tripoli. What we have tried to do during the eighteen months I spent in this country is to reconcile the positions of the ones and the others, it is to organize meetings either at the local level or at a much higher level, especially between Haftar and Saraj, but also at the municipal level, at the city level, etc. ... and to organize this famous national conference which was to be held on April 14, that is, say ten days after the beginning of Mr. Haftar's attack on Tripoli. We tried precisely to avoid what happened. Today, I must note that Libyans are very polarized and far more than what is said outside and that the Security Council itself is divided, so that two negations do not make a nation. .

Can a national conference still be held ?

It will have to take place one day, even if the fights last indefinitely, it will be necessary in the end a political solution. There may be changes in the military balance of power, but in the end there is always a political solution. And the national conference was a political solution. For the moment, it is put in parentheses, I admit, but that does not mean that it was a bad idea.

Have you been discouraged?

The situation saddens me because it is very difficult for the Libyans I represent, this international community, so it is a further challenge for me to explain to them how I can represent such a divided international community. But I do not think for the moment to throw in the towel.

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