Jordan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates have violated the arms embargo imposed since 2011 on Libya, says a confidential report of UN experts charged with its control, deploring the intensification in this country. of a proxy dispute ".

"The United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Turkey have provided weapons on a regular and sometimes flagrant basis with little effort to hide their provenance," say the experts in a summary of their work accompanying their study, to which the AFP had access on Thursday, November 7th.

According to diplomats, Jordan is accused of having trained troops of Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the strongman of eastern Libya who launched in April a military offensive to seize Tripoli. The United Arab Emirates, another support of the Marshal, are suspected of having used aircraft-bombers for the benefit of his troops.

>> Read: Despite the UN embargo, arms continue to pour into Libya

The country may be involved in the bombing of a migrant detention center in the suburbs of Tripoli on July 2 that had killed about 50 people. But the report, if it speaks of the "probable" implication of a foreign plane, does not bring a definitive answer, evoking in a general way the use of F-16 of American manufacture and Mirage 2000-9 of manufacture French, two types of aircraft endowed in the UAE Air Force.

Turkey, for its part, has been openly supporting the government of Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, providing equipment to its troops, ranging from armored vehicles to drones, according to the same diplomatic sources.

Impact of foreign armed groups "limited"

In their report, the experts stress that they are still waiting for answers from several UN Member States to their questions.

"The group has also identified the presence of Chadian and Sudanese armed groups in support of forces affiliated with the GNA (Sarraj government) and the ANL (Haftar army)." "Although the military capabilities of both sides have apparently been strengthened, the impact of foreign armed groups on the settlement of the conflict has in fact remained limited," say the experts.

Submitted on October 29 to the 15 members of the Security Council, the report states that "parties on both sides received arms and military equipment, technical support and non-Libyan fighter aircraft in violation of the embargo. on weapons ".

>> Read: Tripoli demands explanations on French missiles found in Marshal Haftar's possession

The document, which covers a period of one year, is 85 pages long and includes more than 300 pages of annexes: photos, maps, manifests of shipments delivered by boats ... It must be discussed at the end of the month by the 15 members of the Security Council in the Libya Sanctions Committee and be approved before publication, probably in December.

"The group of experts has identified multiple acts that threaten security, peace and stability in Libya," the experts said. Since the outbreak of Marshal Haftar's offensive, a "new phase of instability, combined with the interests of several states and non-state actors, has amplified the proxy conflict that has developed since 2011," he said. they.

Russian presence

According to diplomats, the report questions several foreign interference and mentions, in addition to the countries already mentioned, Egypt, France, Saudi Arabia or Qatar.

According to another diplomat also speaking anonymously, the report does not mention the presence of Russian mercenaries in Libya. Several hundred of them have been deployed in Libya in recent months in support of troops of Marshal Haftar, according to US media. Moscow on Thursday denied news reports from the New York Times and Washington Post.

The report also notes that migrant smuggling, "even drastically reduced", "continues to fund networks contributing to instability". He also denounces "four attempts" by the National Oil Corporation in the east of the country to "illegally export crude oil". "Refined products continue to be diverted by sea and land, but at a lower level than in previous years," according to experts.

With AFP