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Emmanuel Macron looks on as Fayez al-Sarraj shakes hands with General Khalifa Haftar after talks aimed at easing tensions in Libya, in La Celle-Saint-Cloud, near Paris, on July 25, 2017.

A French-led effort to reunify fractured Libya failed to consult powerful local forces and risks achieving little beyond boosting the legitimacy of a renegade general who has recently racked up significant battlefield gains.

On paper, the step taken by Libyas rival leaders on Tuesday -- guided by French President Emmanuel Macron and a United Nations envoy -- was their boldest yet toward resolving Libyas six-year crisis. After talks at a country mansion outside Paris, UN-backed Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj and eastern military strongman Khalifa Haftar agreed to -- but didnt sign -- a text calling for a ceasefire, combining the North African crude producers divided state oil company and holding elections as soon as possible.

Yet the accord will struggle to survive the transition from French chateau to Libyas fiercely contested politics, according to analysts including Riccardo Fabiani at Eurasia Group.

All we have is a very good photo op, which Macron and Haftar exploited very well,said Fabiani,senior analyst for the Middle East and North Africa. The agreement accorded Haftar a veneer of respect on the international arena -- a major achievement for a leader whose authority has so far been backed largely by Russias Vladimir Putin and Egyptian President -- and former military chief -- Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi. It was, though, reached without input from regional officials, or myriad militias and political parties whose cooperation will be needed to make it stick, he said.

Playing out just across the Mediterranean Sea, Libyas descent into chaos since the uprising that toppled Muammar Qaddafi in 2011 has fueled the two most severe cross-border challenges facing many European leaders -- the flow of poor migrants desperate to build better lives and the opportunist movement of Islamic State extremists. Macrons initiative comes after abortive attempts by Italy, the former colonizing power, to forge a peace.

While a UN-mediated peace deal was meant to unite Libya, Serraj has struggled to expand his influence outside the capitalsince arriving in Tripoli in March 2016. Haftars Libyan National Army controls large parts of the country from its base in the east, this month capturing the key city of Benghazi after years of fighting with Islamist militias and earlier Islamic State jihadists.

There is a political legitimacy thats in the hands of Prime Minister Al-Serraj and a military legitimacy thats held by General Haftar, Macron said as the deal was announced. They have decided to work together on a political process, on a security process, and for a unified economy that will benefit the Libyan people.

Serraj and Haftar met in Abu Dhabi in May for the first time since early last year. Initially hailed as a breakthrough, analysts said later the meeting was fruitless. Each side issued its own communique after the meeting, and battlefield developments in the south of Libya soon eroded any goodwill.

With his military dominance now cemented, Haftar appears to have gone furtherin the talks at the Chateau de la Celle than he did in Abu Dhabi in a search for more political recognition from European countries, according to an aide to Macron.

Even so, its unlikely to breach the political stalemate that has endured in Libya for years, said Oded Berkowitz, senior analyst for the Middle East and North Africa with geopolitical risk consultancy Max Security in Israel. Haftar controls the main oil fields and ports, and his prominence now shows theres international recognition that Haftar has to be involved in any political settlement, he said. Hes now a force to be reckoned with.

French officials said the goal of Tuesdays meeting was to define general guidelines that would help the UNs Special Representative to Libya,Ghassan Salame, reach an agreement leading to elections next year. Macron saluted earlier efforts of countries such as Italy, Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, and the U.A.E. to seek a solution and said theyd all been involved in the preparations for the talks in France.

Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano, in an interview with the newspaper La Stampa published on Tuesday,had voiced his countrys irritation at Macrons initiative. Italy sees former colony Libya as part of its sphere of influence.

Italy and France have both been actively seeking a unified Libya because the disorder in the country has led to weapons flowing to Islamic militants in former French colonies in West Africa, such as Mali and Chad, and to human traffickers using Libyan beaches to ship migrants toward Italian shores.

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The Libyan people need this peace, and the Mediterranean deserves this peace, Macron said. We are directly affected. In an interview with France 24 television, Serraj said it was too early for him to decide whether or not to contest any election held under the plan. But while acknowledging there was much to do, he stressed real achievements. Haftar had agreed a ballot was the only way to solve the crisis and that the military must fall under a civilian executive authority, he said.

The ball is in Haftars court, according to Berkowitz, who added that the military leader stood to gain the most from the declaration in France.

With assistance by Salma El Wardany, Ahmed Feteha, and Gregory Viscusi

Read more:
Libya Peace Deal Must Survive Shift From Chateau to Battlefield - Bloomberg

Mansour Al-Kikhia is a Libyan politician and diplomat, one of the most prominent opponents of the former dictator Muammar Gaddafi. He vanished under mysterious circumstances in 1993 until his body was found 19 years later in a refrigerator in a villa belonging to Libya's former military intelligence services in Tripoli.

Al-Kikhia was born in 1931 in Benghazi. As a child, he grew up and studied primarily in his hometown Benghazi before being sent to Egypt to attend high school. He went on to complete his university education and he graduated in 1950.

Al-Kikhia received a degree in international law from the Sorbonne University in Paris which put him on a path to becoming a human rights activist and ultimately meant facing the Gaddafi regime. In 1984 he founded the Libyan Human Rights Association from exile then two years later he established the Libyan National Alliance and was elected to the position of Secretary General. In the early 1970s, he stood for his principles and defended the rights of prisoners despite the risk of this work under a regime that arrests, intimidates, tortures and kills people, who just wanted to get their voices heard.

Al-Kikhia had long been involved in politics since the time of the monarchy, which made of him a leading politician and diplomat. In 1962 he joined the Libyan Embassy in France and after, in Algeria in 1963. He was a General Consul in Geneva (1963-1967) and a member of the Libyan Mission to the United Nations in 1968. After the coup of Muammar Gaddafi he went on occupying important official posts. He was appointed as Libyan foreign minister from 1972-1973; then he was appointed as the Permanent Representative of the United Nations in Libya between the years 1975-1980 before announcing his resignation and opposition to the former Gaddafi's regime in protest against the policies of summary executions practiced by the Libyan state at the time through the so-called revolutionary committees.

Al-Kikhia vanished under suspicious circumstances during his participation in the Board of Trustees of the Arab Organization for Human Rights meeting in Cairo on the 10th of December 1993.

His disappearance remained a mystery due to the lack of evidence; however, the Libyan Intelligence Services were accused of kidnapping Al-Kikhia in cooperation with the former Egyptian regime.

After years of mystery, the remains of Al-Kikhia were found in October 2012 inside a refrigerator of a villa belonging to the former military intelligence in Tripoli, owing to information provided by Abdullah al-Senussi, head of the Intelligence Service of the former regime following his arrest during the February revolution.

The CIA conducted a report that points to the involvement of the Egyptian agents in kidnapping Al-Kikhia before handing him over to the Libyan authorities who later executed him. This was confirmed by the former foreign minister of Gaddafi's regime Abd al-Rahman Shalgham in an interview with the London-based newspaper Al-Hayat, where he said that the Egyptian security kidnapped Al-Kikhia and then he was transferred to Tobruk where he was received by Abdullah al-Senussi. For nearly twenty years his whereabouts remained unknown until Gaddafi was over thrown, still, the circumstances of his death remain a mystery up to this day. Some have speculated that he died during the events at Abu Salim's prison; while some claim that he died in prison as a result of medical negligence.

The Libyan Foreign Ministry held a state funeral in Benghazi and memorial service in his honour on December 3rd, 2012.

Continue reading here:
Who is Mansour Al-Kikhia? - The Libya Observer

MISRATA, Libya (Reuters) - Libya forces allied with UN-backed government who last year defeated Islamic State in Sirte are increasing patrols to stop the militants regrouping and threatening to launch attacks on the port city of Misrata, a military commander said.

The forces, mainly brigades from Misrata drove Islamic State from Sirte at the end of last year after a six-month campaign backed by U.S airstrikes. Islamic State took over the city in 2015 taking advantage of Libya's political chaos.

"We have spotted movements by Daesh (Islamic State) in the south of Sirte, where they are trying to regroup and break through our forces' lines in the south," said Mohamed Ghasri, spokesman for the "Al-Bunyan al-Marsous" forces in Misrata.

Ghasri gave no details of numbers of fighters estimated in the south of Sirte. But he said Misrata forces had lacked support from the international community since defeating Islamic State last year.

French officials fear Islamic State militants and other jihadists could try to exploit any power vacuum in Libya to regroup after losing ground in Syria and Iraq.

The Misrata forces took the fight to Sirte after Islamic State took over the city nearly two years ago and launched attacks on nearby oilfields and threatened Misrata, a major port city and home to one of Libya's most powerful armed factions.

Militants took advantage of Libya's steady descent into turmoil after civil war ousted Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Rival brigades of former rebels backed by competing political factions turned against each other in a fight for control.

A U.N.-backed government in Tripoli is trying to extend its influence, though it is facing resistance from some armed rivals. Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj and eastern commander Khalifa Haftar agreed to work on a ceasefire and elections at talks in Paris on Wednesday.

Reporting by Ayman Al-Sahli in Misrata; writing by Ahmed Elumami in Tripoli; editing by Patrick Markey and Richard Balmforth

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Libyan forces step up patrols to stop Islamic State regrouping - Reuters

africanews

Post-Gaddafi Libya: How the current chaos was birthed africanews Political watchers said Libya at the time could not be described as a democracy and after over four decades in power, an armed uprising broke out in February 2011 leading to the fall of the Gaddafi regime, plunging the country into instability.

See the article here:
Post-Gaddafi Libya: How the current chaos was birthed - africanews

Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, the leader of the United Nations-backed government in Tripoli, and Gen. Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the so-called Libyan National Army which controls parts of the east of the country, met with the French President at a chateau in La Celle Saint-Cloud, west of Paris. Ghassan Salam, the new special representative of the United Nations Secretary-General, also took part in the discussions Tuesday.

"Today, the cause of peace in Libya has made great progress," President Macron tweeted.

The talks ended with a 10-point joint declaration backed by the two Libyan rivals.

The two leaders said they recognized that the "solution to the Libya crisis can only be a political one and requires a national reconciliation process involving all Libyans," according to the statement released by the lyse Palace.

The declaration also included a commitment to "work towards the holding of presidential and parliamentary elections as soon as possible ... in cooperation with the relevant institutions and with the support and under the supervision of the United Nations."

The two rivals pledged a "ceasefire and to refrain from any use of armed force for any purpose that does not strictly constitute counter-terrorism..."

Earlier Tuesday, the French President's office acknowledged it had prematurely released a statement outlining the deal. It released the new statement hours later.

Sarraj and Haftar had not met since failed talks in the United Arab Emirates in May.

Both men have been involved in the struggle for power in Libya, which descended into chaos after former dictator Moammar Gadhafi was toppled in 2011.

France played a leading role in the international intervention in Libya. All parties, including those countries that neighbor Libya, were keen to secure a peace deal and work toward ending the migrant crisis, with Libya often used as a gateway to Europe.

Macron has not been shy in embracing the international stage, hosting Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump since taking office.

His latest attempt is to bring an end to the crisis which has engulfed Libya.

The country has been beset by internal divisions since Gadhafi was overthrown six years ago, a move which led to the collapse of the economy and vital oil production as well as the emergence of ISIS.

Sarraj has the backing of the UN in the Libyan capital. But Haftar, who rejects Sarraj's government, remains in control in the eastern city of Tobruk, and his forces liberated the city of Benghazi last month after three years of fighting Islamists.

One of the most problematic issues facing Libya and Europe is the flood of refugees making the dangerous crossing between the two.

Many of those attempting to make the trip are aiming for Italy, which is desperate for a solution to instability within Libya.

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Libya rivals agree to ceasefire, elections - CNN.com