Italian newspaper: The Turks in Libya are a problem, but they are not the worst evils

The author and expert on Middle Eastern politics Guido Ramboldi points to the extent to which the proxy war on Libyan soil has reached, and says that the entry of Turkish forces to the field is not the worst evil.

The writer adds in an article published by the Italian newspaper Elvato Cotidiano that, whatever the violence of the Turkish soldiers, they belong to a regular army, unlike the mercenary thugs and the African militia gangs fighting for the retired Major General Khalifa Hifter.

Ramboldi believes that if the Turks were able to rein in Haftar and impose a truce in Libya, this would bring Ankara tremendous profits at the expense of the Europeans, pointing to their unrealistic and inconclusive positions on the Libyan crisis over the past months.

The author adds that the worst is Haftar’s victory - if he wins - which will lead to a long-term risky military chaos, and that this will cost the Italian energy giant Eni and Italy a very high price.

Media and Haftar
He says it is not in anyone's interest for Libya to turn into a battlefield between the bad and the worst, but before singing the usual expressions about fear of the Turks, the world of politics and the media in Italy must finally tell people who is Haftar?

He adds that they must also reveal to the people the brutal methods that he uses, in that it suffices in this regard to recall what happened on July 17 in the city of Benghazi when a group of special forces under the command of his son, Khaled, stormed the house of Mrs. Siham Sarqiwa, a member of the Libyan Parliament She was elected in 2014, and was kidnapped after her husband was shot and her 14-year-old son was severely beaten.

He points out that since then, despite the calls made by the United Nations, the European Union and many humanitarian organizations calling for the disclosure of the fate of this Libyan intellectual, there has been no news about them.

He adds that no one doubts that she was killed and perhaps even after her rape, knowing that the only mistake committed by Sirqaya was her criticism in a dialogue with one of the Libyan visual channels of the Haftar attack on Tripoli, as well as preparing a report sent to the International Criminal Court on the mass rapes committed by Gaddafi forces During the Civil War, that crime was linked to a portion of the soldiers who are now fighting for Haftar.

The writer says that the kidnapping of Sirqia at the time did not spark any parliamentary interrogation in Italy, and that the media ignored him, and this may be due to the presence of Haftar fans in Italy, whether from the right or left stream, especially after his closeness to the Italian energy giant Eni in 2017, where Haftar has since become acceptable to Italian governments that have been ready for some time to abandon the head of the National Accord Government, Fayez al-Sarraj.

Reputation and alliance
The writer believes that this affirms the common reputation around his country, which is that Italy never ends any war it fights alongside the party with which it initially allied.

The writer refers to what happened during the visit of Italian Foreign Minister Luigi de Mayo to Tripoli when he raised his voice with Al-Sarraj for committing a mistake requesting help from Ankara, while he held very friendly talks with Haftar, where the general told him, "You should be proud of yourself because you can To serve as an example for Libyan youth. "This is what prompted the head of the Al-Wefaq government, Al-Sarraj, to immediately call on the Turks to accelerate the move towards Tripoli.

The author notes that some justify this Rome's position towards Haftar by "realistic politics", ignoring that this realism ignores reality, as Haftar does not want any political solution in Libya (an option that his first sponsor in Egypt does not want).

However, the retired brigade has no opportunity to control the entire Libyan soil, not only because of its lack of men on the battlefield, but because a large part of the Libyan people considers it to be cooperative with the enemy represented in the Egyptian-Emirati Saudi alliance that Russia later joined.

Gangs and mercenaries
The writer notes that the Libyan National Army is made up of Salafi militias funded by some Gulf oil kingdoms, war veterans from the followers of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group, Chadian militias, and Sudanese Janjaweed, all of whom distinguished themselves in their countries of the art of carrying out the massacres and dealing with The people are cruel and brutal, and therefore their control of Libya will lead to massive military chaos that will inevitably be more bloody.

In a related context, the author says, "Therefore, exchanging pleasantries with Haftar, as did de Mayo and other ministers in the previous Italian governments, means passing a message to the Libyan people that the Italians are friends of an abominable tyrant, a reputation that could expose Italy and Eni company to justified future reprisals. It is a danger that is not taken into account by Italian officials, perhaps because there is a prevailing belief that Libyans and Arabs in general are willing to obey and submit to the new, authoritarian president once he wins. "

But the truth is that the Libyans are not, and the best example of this is the positions of the Serbian parliamentarians who obtained academic qualifications from prestigious western universities, which most Italian parliamentarians did not obtain.

Problem and solution
Ramboldi sees Hifter as the problem, not the solution, and says that if Italy had been cognizant and had some courage it would have tried to "get rid of it" instead of complimenting it, even through the ICC, especially since it is never difficult to provide conclusive evidence of his bad actions.

He also believes that Rome should at least now desist from relying and relying on American assistance, and take to the battlefield with a purely Italian initiative that is at the level of its historical relations with Libya.

He notes that a proposal in this regard was recently submitted by the former Secretary-General of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Gambiero Masola, but unfortunately without success.

Therefore, the advice that can be given to (Mayo), who is not lacking in any case, advisers in diplomatic work at very high levels, is to entrust foreign policy to those who are competent and merit in this field, and to devote his time instead to resolving the aggravating differences within the Movement of Five The stars that he heads, because at least - as it appears already in the eyes of many countries - Italy will spare more ridicule.