TRIPOLI // The UN envoy for Libya met the head of a new unity government on Tuesday on his first visit to the conflict-torn country since prime minister designate Fayez Serraj’s arrival in the capital last week.
Martin Kobler’s visit to Tripoli came amid international hopes that Mr Serraj’s UN-backed administration will gain control over the country and end the chaos that has plagued Libya since the overthrow of dictator Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.
“Now meeting PM Serraj and members of the presidency council. I am very happy to be here and discuss the way ahead,” Martin Kobler tweeted, referring to the body that nominated ministers for the new unity government. “Just arrived in #Tripoli, first visit after arrival of PC. Thrilled to be here!”
Mr Kobler, a German diplomat appointed last year to lead international efforts to resolve the Libya conflict, posted photographs of himself meeting Mr Serraj and other officials.
The UN envoy had been prevented from travelling to the capital last month by authorities in charge of Tripoli, who have so far refused to cede power to the fledgling unity government.
Mr Serraj’s arrival in the capital last Wednesday had drawn fury from the militia-backed administration that has ruled the capital since mid-2014.
The situation has remained calm, however, and the new government has now won the support of the city’s main armed group and key institutions.
“I don’t know if it’s just me, but people seem to be more relaxed,” said Abdelmajid Naas, a 36-year-old petroleum engineer.
Since militia alliance Libya Dawn overran Tripoli eight months ago, leaving gunmen on the streets, residents’ lives have been filled with worry over how to support their families in a worsening economy.
Siham, a mother of two, said she and her family were always scared. “We never knew what would happen the next day,” she said.
But with Mr Serraj’s arrival, Siham’s husband, Adel Abderahman, 42, said he was confident the situation would improve. “Now at least, we have a government that can take things in hand,” he said. “It’s as if a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders.”
Support has grown for Mr Serraj’s government, even as the two rival administrations it seeks to replace – the Tripoli authorities and a government in eastern Libya backed by the country’s internationally-recognised parliament – continue to reject it.
Late on Sunday, the Tripoli-based Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) threw its support behind Mr Serraj’s government of national accord (GNA).
“The establishment of the GNA in Tripoli represents an important development towards bringing stability and unity to Libya,” said LIA chairman Abdulmagid Breish.
Libya’s national oil corporation and central bank – the twin drivers of the country’s wealth – have also pledged support.
Last Thursday, the mayors of 10 coastal cities that were under the control of the Tripoli authorities called on Libyans to “support the national unity government”.
The following day, guards in charge of securing installations in Libya’s eastern “oil crescent” said they would hand over three export terminals to the GNA.
Oil is Libya’s main natural resource, with reserves estimated at 48 billion barrels, the largest in Africa. But its output has plummeted since the 2011 uprising, after which armed militias filled the power vacuum created by Qaddafi’s removal.
On Friday, for the first time since August 2014, hundreds of Libyans protested in Tripoli against the city’s authorities headed by Khalifa Ghweil and in support of Mr Serraj’s government, chanting “Bye, bye Ghweil”.
Mr Serraj – a businessman from Tripoli – appeared in public the same day, joining Friday prayers at a mosque in the city.
On the main Martyr’s Square, members of the security forces and the public shook his hand saying: “Welcome home.”
His government has the support of the main armed group in Tripoli, signalling a split within the security forces once loyal to the Tripoli authorities.
On the city’s walls, fresh graffiti reads “Yes to the Government of National Accord”, replacing slogans in support of Libya Dawn, and policemen have reappeared on the streets.
A day after Mr Serraj arrived in Tripoli, the exchange rate improved from 3.7 to 2.7 Libyan dinars against the US dollar.
With the new government promising a united Libya and a better economy, Libyans have regained hope.
Engineer Mr Naas, for one, has rethought his plans to go abroad. “With prices going up, salaries [unpaid] for months and no cash in the banks, I was thinking of leaving,” he said. But “now hope seems to be an option again”.
* Agence France-Presse
