In April 2019 Haftar tossed aside tentative UN peace efforts by launching a major military offensive to capture Tripoli. ‘There are clear signs of non-compliance,’ says Silvia Colombo, a Libya specialist in the Mediterranean and Middle East programme of the International Affairs Institute in Rome. In apparent response to Turkey, Russia and the UAE seem to be reinforcing Haftar airbases in central Libya at Jufra and Qurdabiya. Al-Sarraj has caused alarm by taking direct command of the presidential guard, suggesting to some that he intends to defy the political agreement if necessary. But it seems a rather bad time to be replacing a key architect of Libya’s best shot at peace in a long while when that peace still remains so fragile.

Source: Libya Today January 22, 2021 08:48 UTC