-OpEd-ROME — The ongoing crisis in Libya poses the gravest threat to Italian national security, for multiple reasons. The UN-recognized national unity government of Prime Minister Fayez Al-Sarraj is effectively powerless and has struggled to establish itself in the capital of Tripoli. The mercurial General Khalifa Haftar leads the self-proclaimed Libyan National Army and holds sway in the eastern region of Cyrenaica, receiving support from neighboring Egypt. Under the Obama administration, the United States limited itself to air and drone strikes against specific terrorist targets. The country needs solid national institutions to ensure its unity, avoiding a costly east-west partition that would further undermine stability.

Source: Libya Today January 24, 2017 17:27 UTC