Hariri Center Senior Fellow Karim Mezran is quoted by Voice of America on continuing violence in Libya:
Karim Mezran, a senior fellow at Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, said the risk is real.
“The violence gripping Libya is due to a political struggle between groups that could broadly be characterized as Islamists and anti-Islamists,” he said. “As Libya urgently needs help from its allies, most countries, including the United States, are evacuating their embassies or drastically downsizing.”
Mezran said that Libya’s allies wish to mediate a solution to the conflict, they must maintain contact with Libya’s major political actors — the Muslim Brotherhood and the National Forces Alliance, and the leaders of the warring militias from Misrata and Zintan.
He said neither the “Islamist” nor the “anti-Islamist” forces seem capable of winning a quick or conclusive victory over the other.
“Only a mediation process, aligned with the new parliament and a new constitutional settlement, and backed by the international community, offers any prospect of breaking the cycle of fear and violence in Libya,” Mezran said.