The Tripoli-based interior minister of Libya’s Government of National Accord, Fathi Bashagha, held talks in London on Thursday with senior British officials over reform in the Libyan security sector.
European states have been exerting pressure on the factions controlling Western Libya to ring-fence ministries and central institutions from the armed groups that control whole swathes of the capital, including the official compounds and state facilities such as the airport. British ministers stressed the need for the visiting Libyan to back reforms to justify backing from international bodies.
“We agreed on the need to reform Libya’s security institutions as part of a sustainable solution to the conflict in Libya,” tweeted the UK’s Middle East and North Africa minister James Cleverly following his meeting with Mr Bashagha.
From the powerful western city of Misrata, Mr Bashagha has offered assurances to Western governments that he can work to dilute the grip that certain militia groups have on the capital Tripoli and on its institutions.
His efforts to single out one armed faction in particular, the Nawassi brigade, has led to a war of words between the interior minister and the militia.
The Libyan official said they discussed deepening the partnership between Libya and the UK to ensure peace and security.
“We agreed: the future for Libya is democracy not dictatorship,” Mr Bashagha said.
He also met with security minister James Brokenshire to discuss cooperation.
Control of Tripoli, which in theory is under the sway of the GNA, has been contested by forces based in the east of Libya under the command of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
An array of armed groups from western Libya, including powerful factions from Mr Bashagha’s city of Misrata that he has influence on, have mobilised to resist the Libyan National Army, the Field Marshal’s forces.
The anti-Haftar forces have, however, had to rely on shipments of Turkish weaponry and reportedly thousands of Syrian rebels backed by Turkey have been sent to western Libya.
Mr Bashagha and other senior officials in the GNA have appealed for international support, while the UN tries to establish a negotiating process that includes Field Marshal Haftar’s LNA.
“Great discussion with Libyan Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha today. The UK government is committed to deepening our trading relationship with Libya,” said Graham Stuart, a junior minister in the UK’s international trade ministry.
“Trade and prosperity will be a critical building block to achieving stability and security in Libya for now and the future,” he added.
Repeated efforts by the international community to broker a lasting peace settlement in Libya have broken down.
