Libyan papers highlight US-Russian friction over Libya; Risk of transposing Syrian scenario

30 Mai 2020

Tripoli, Libya, May 30 (Infosplusgabon) - Libyan newspapers this week focused on friction between the United States and Russia over Libya with Washington accusing Moscow of working to establish a military base in Libya and fuel tension there, following the dispatch of 14 fighter jets in support of the mercenaries of the Russian Wagner Group to support the Haftar camp.

The Libyan press has for long centred on the risks of the transfer of the Syrian scenario into Libya with the proliferation on the horizon of a direct confrontation between Moscow and Ankara in the military theater in this North African country.

The scandal of the seizure by Malta of more than a billion dollars in Libyan dinars printed in Russia, revealed by the United States also interested the Libyan newspapers.

Under the headline: The Libyan crisis during Eid, escalation on the ground and US-Russian friction, the newspaper Al-Wassat wrote that the United Nations Mission's appeal for "an Eid without fighting and hatred" has, as usual, failed to silence the  firearms, nor to cool the war fronts between the forces of the national accord government and the forces of the general command, with the notable change in the capital war equation after 13 months of confrontation.

The newspaper said that this situation occurred in parallel with multilateral telephone talks between international and regional powers to manage the Libyan crisis, clearly crystallized in a series of American and Russian contacts this week, revealed the marked differences between the positions of the two parties in the Libyan case.

"On the ground, it was obvious that the two war camps insisted on gaining new posts in the combat axes, whether through the redeployment of the forces of the general command and the call of the commander-in-chief of the army, Marshal Khalifa Haftar, officers and soldiers of the general command on all axes to continue the fighting in what he described as "an open holy war on all fronts", or the forces of the accord government which consolidated the military gains made recently, in particular after the control of the cities of the west coast and a strategic air base (Al-Wattia), and the destruction of a number of Russian air defence systems", said Al-Wassat newspaper.

In terms of international diplomacy, the newspaper said that Washington's actions took place on two levels, the first having come from the White House through the assertion of US President Donald Trump "of his concern at the aggravation of foreign interference in Libya, and stressed the need for rapid calm, "when in contact with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, without revealing more details about these telephone conversations.

As for the second level of American actions, it was during a telephone conversation between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the President of the Presidential Council, Fayez Al-Sarraj, during which Pompeo reaffirmed that "there is no military solution to the Libyan crisis, and that the only solution lies in the return to the political path and the need to adhere to the results of the Berlin Conference," the newspaper said.

In return, Moscow intensified, according to  Al-Wassat, its diplomatic movement this week, and stressed "the importance of communicating with all the important political forces in Libya for a cease-fire", during the talks between the Special Representative of the Russian President for the Middle East and African Affairs, Mikhail Bogdanov and the Italian Ambassador to Moscow, Pascali Terraciano.

However, the Russian interview was limited to the Speaker of the House of Representatives (Parliament), Aguila Saleh, who received a phone call from Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov, during which it was also pointed out that "there is no military solution to the Libyan crisis," the newspaper said.

"Not far from this race, diplomats note a new arena for the race on the Libyan dossier, including the Mediterranean, is the theater, especially after what was revealed by the Russian newspaper Vaggliad about the incident of attacking the MiG-29 plane and a Turkish frigate in Libyan waters, at a time when circles inside NATO believe that the increased presence of Turkey in Libya could help offset the influence of Russia in the region," the newspaper wrote.

In addition, the United States Military Command in Africa (AFRICOM) accused Russia of sending 14 fourth-generation fighter jets to support the mercenaries of the Wagner Group who fight alongside Haftar, noting that Moscow is working to instal a base in Libya which represents a threat to Europe and will affect the phenomenon of immigration to the region.

The newspaper concluded that with the fierce mutual escalation of war on the fighting axis in the south of the capital, it may seem logical to call for "the immediate cessation of hostilities in Libya and the bloodshed of Libyans, especially since all events have shown the inability of any party to impose coercive or unilateral solutions conducive to security or the extension of stability throughout Libya."

For its part, the Afigatenews, was interested in the banknotes in Libyan dinars, specifying that the American State Department declared, in a statement, that "the Maltese authorities had seized a large quantity of Libyan currency printed in Russia, worth 1.1 billion dollars", calling it "counterfeit money".

The Arabic-language electronic newspaper said that the State Department praised "the measures taken by the Maltese government "stating that the influx of Libyan counterfeit money printed in Russia in recent years has exacerbated Libyan economic challenges".

The newspaper clarified, citing the US State Department "its commitment to work with the United Nations and its international partners to deter what it has described as activities that undermine Libya's sovereignty and stability and are not in contradiction with internationally recognized sanctions regimes."

In addition, it should be noted that the Maltese government has not published any data on the incident, the newspaper said.

Al-Wassat returned to the Libyan armed conflict, stressing that "the tone of Western warnings about the reproduction of the scenario of the Syrian crisis on the Libyan scene, or what one could call the "Syrianization of Libya" has increased, and the recent positions issued by Washington and Paris in the past 48 hours reflected the magnitude of concerns over the increase in external interference in the war in Tripoli, which has almost ended the 14 months, which had an echo in the corridors of the United Nations, which declared themselves "very concerned by this flow of weapons, equipment and mercenaries", in a diplomatic formula refraining from accusing a specified part.

Politicians and diplomats say, according to the newspaper, that this encouragement of the "Syria" scenario reflects the level of interest on the part of Russia and Turkey for Libya, on the one hand Moscow shows an interest in the Libyan oil sector close to Europe, and its success in this battle makes it possible to gain a foothold in the Mediterranean and in southern Europe on the one hand, and at the heart of the continent in Africa.

On the other hand, the newspaper underlines, the battle of Libya is a symbol of the rise of Turkey as a major regional power in the region, and it is a safe bet that this will redraw the energy map of the Eastern Mediterranean.

Between the scenario of "Syria" and the definition of the spheres of influence, the  Al-Wassat stressed that certainty remains that the management by the international community of the conflict in Libya exceeded the will of a total solution, which means a new extension of the war to the southern borders of the capital, or perhaps a solution leading to the partition of the country!

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/LMP/GABON2020

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