Southern Libya, a lawless area that worries Chad
LNA soldiers loyal to Khalifa Haftar near Obari in southern Libya (illustrative image).
REUTERS / Stringer
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
Since 2018, Chad, Niger, Libya and Sudan have been trying to coordinate security at their borders over what they call “
the threat coming from southern Libya
”.
But this coordination is struggling to be put in place.
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Southern Libya continues to be "
a hotbed of serious threats
".
The Chadian and Sudanese armed groups constitute a major security challenge for Khartoum and Ndjamena as for Tripoli.
The international community and the new Libyan authorities have demanded the departure of all the mercenaries, but Tripoli seems helpless or even overwhelmed in the face of these groups.
After refusing to discuss with the rebellion, the Chadian Military Council is trying to set up regional coordination to neutralize these rebels dispersed in Niger, Sudan and Libya.
This country forms their rear base to carry out their attacks.
South Libya has escaped the authority of a state plunged into chaos since 2011.
A son of Idriss Déby in Khartoum
Last Friday, before the National Assembly, the head of the transitional government, Pahimi Padacké Albert, estimated that Chad "
remains threatened in its integrity
" despite the end of the war against the rebellion. "
Today, we know that these mercenaries are leaving this
Libyan
territory
" again repeated the Chadian Prime Minister on Friday. “
Defending the integrity of the territory and the security
” of Chad is a priority in its program.
It is for this purpose that General Abdelkarim Idriss, the other son of the late president, went to Khartoum. Sent by the Transitional Military Council, he met with military and political officials including Sudanese Foreign Minister Maryam al-Mahdi. According to the joint statement, it was about the Sudanese experience in the political transition but also and especially the rebellion of two countries located in southern Libya. The two parties agree to coordinate "
measures to withdraw the arms of these Sudanese and Chadian militias in Libya
". It is also a question of "
reintegration
", without further clarification.
The UN estimates the number of Sudanese mercenaries and militias in Libya at 11,000.
In Ndjamena, the Prime Minister estimates the Chadian presence at 25,000 combatants.
The figure of 17,000 was put forward in 2019 by the former Libyan Prime Minister Sarraj.
But these figures are debated.
The chimerical question of a Libyan army
Southern Libya is an area that has served for several years as a rear base for the Chadian and Sudanese rebellions, which also engage, in part, in mercenarism on behalf of one or the other camps of the Libyan struggle and mainly for the Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
It also serves as a refuge for terrorist organizations and traffickers of all kinds.
This area completely escapes the authority of the Libyan state and also that of Marshal Haftar, the strong man of the east.
Today, under pressure from the international community, the marshal asks these mercenaries to leave the cities of Sirte and al-Joufra and go south, which they refuse until they have been paid.
In compensation, they risk leaving with heavy weapons and ammunition, as had already happened during the withdrawal from Tripoli.
For Moussa el-Kouni, member of the Libyan Presidential Council, it would be "
possible to consolidate the southern borders of Libya only by having a unified army
".
However, the question of the reunification of the army is trampling considerably.
Neighboring countries hope for increased security coordination with the new Libyan authorities, but this heavy issue will also have to await the arrival of an elected government.
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Libya
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