Four renowned experts have called on Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon to provide immediate support for Libya to avert a growing and dangerous crisis at the center of the North African region. As irregular armed groups engage with Islamists and extremist militants, the hard work in building a democratic consensus-driven Libya over the past three years threatens to tumble into the abyss of destabilizing chaos if the international community does not engage with power brokers now.
A. Omar Turbi, former advisor to the National Transitional Council in the early stages of the post-Qaddafi era and member of the National Advisory Board of American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee (AADC), Hafed Al-Ghwell, Advisor to the Dean of the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank Group, Karim Mezran, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, and Dr. Hani Shennib, a renowned public health specialist and former president of the National Council on Canada Arab Relations, have provided recommendations to the United Nations on the steps needed to be taken. They include expanding the UN Support Mission in Libya’s (UNSMIL) mandate to promote national reconciliation, disarmament, and amnesty programs, to establish a new legislative body as soon as possible, to assist in drafting the new constitution, and to support and strengthen Libya’s national army to maintain security.
Image: Irregular forces loyal to former army general Khalifa Haftar take their positions with their weapons during clashes with Islamist militants in the eastern city of Benghazi June 2, 2014. Eight people were killed and 15 wounded when fighting broke out on Monday between the Libyan army and Islamist militants in Benghazi, medical sources said. The Ansar al-Sharia militant group attacked a camp on Monday belonging to army special forces, residents there said. Forces of the renegade general fighting Islamists later joined the battle, using combat helicopters, they added. (Photo: REUTERS)