This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/23/world/middleeast/frustration-builds-in-libya-as-peace-remains-elusive.html
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| As Frustrations Build in Libya, So Do Calls for Help | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| TUNIS — For more than a year, Libyans have been watching their politicians shuttle between foreign capitals on rounds of peace talks, workshops and conferences in search of a solution to the worsening chaos at home. At one recent event in the Tunisian capital, frustrations at the slow progress were evident in the heartfelt questions and statements from the Libyan refugees in the audience. | TUNIS — For more than a year, Libyans have been watching their politicians shuttle between foreign capitals on rounds of peace talks, workshops and conferences in search of a solution to the worsening chaos at home. At one recent event in the Tunisian capital, frustrations at the slow progress were evident in the heartfelt questions and statements from the Libyan refugees in the audience. |
| “We are a small country, and we need help,” Ahmed Werfalli, a businessman and activist, told the American ambassador during one panel discussion. “We were united against dictatorship, and now we are killing each other.” | “We are a small country, and we need help,” Ahmed Werfalli, a businessman and activist, told the American ambassador during one panel discussion. “We were united against dictatorship, and now we are killing each other.” |
| Libyans are struggling with a problem that typically emerges after a bloody regime change: how to reassemble a functioning country after its brittle, autocratic and repressive government has been fractured and replaced with warring factions. | Libyans are struggling with a problem that typically emerges after a bloody regime change: how to reassemble a functioning country after its brittle, autocratic and repressive government has been fractured and replaced with warring factions. |
| Many Libyans have taken refuge in neighboring Tunisia, forced out by the violence and doubting that the main protagonists will end their power struggle, even if a United Nations-sponsored peace agreement is signed soon. They are calling for greater international involvement to help end the conflict. | Many Libyans have taken refuge in neighboring Tunisia, forced out by the violence and doubting that the main protagonists will end their power struggle, even if a United Nations-sponsored peace agreement is signed soon. They are calling for greater international involvement to help end the conflict. |
| The United Nations’ special representative for Libya, Bernardino León of Spain, has been pushing for a power-sharing deal between the two main warring parties — the internationally recognized government, backed by the maverick Gen. Khalifa Hifter, and Libya Dawn, an alliance of revolutionaries and Islamist militias. | The United Nations’ special representative for Libya, Bernardino León of Spain, has been pushing for a power-sharing deal between the two main warring parties — the internationally recognized government, backed by the maverick Gen. Khalifa Hifter, and Libya Dawn, an alliance of revolutionaries and Islamist militias. |
| The agreement lays out plans for a cease-fire and the disarming of militias and armed groups while building national security forces, but questions remain about how it would be enforced. | The agreement lays out plans for a cease-fire and the disarming of militias and armed groups while building national security forces, but questions remain about how it would be enforced. |
| Speaker after speaker at the event here talked of the need for international assistance to ensure compliance. United Nations officials have said that some kind of peacekeeping force would be needed, and that the United States and Britain have promised technical assistance and advisers to help train Libyan national forces. | Speaker after speaker at the event here talked of the need for international assistance to ensure compliance. United Nations officials have said that some kind of peacekeeping force would be needed, and that the United States and Britain have promised technical assistance and advisers to help train Libyan national forces. |
| Many in the region want more than that. Tunisian officials want a United States-led coalition to combat the Islamic State in Libya, where it has established a foothold. A Libyan security analyst cited one plan for a protected “green zone” in the capital, Tripoli. Libyans not prepared to condone a foreign intervention force called for at least a Security Council resolution and an international commitment to hold the parties to the agreement. | Many in the region want more than that. Tunisian officials want a United States-led coalition to combat the Islamic State in Libya, where it has established a foothold. A Libyan security analyst cited one plan for a protected “green zone” in the capital, Tripoli. Libyans not prepared to condone a foreign intervention force called for at least a Security Council resolution and an international commitment to hold the parties to the agreement. |
| “We fear the weapons,” said Mahmud Shammam, the editor and chief executive of the Libyan news agency, Alwasat. “We want a guarantee from the people who are driving us towards this agreement.” | “We fear the weapons,” said Mahmud Shammam, the editor and chief executive of the Libyan news agency, Alwasat. “We want a guarantee from the people who are driving us towards this agreement.” |
| Mr. Werfalli, the businessman and activist, said he had tried to mediate among warring groups in the months after the uprising against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in 2011. He said he had connections on both sides, and tried to end clashes between legislators and militia leaders who held sway in Tripoli, and elders in Bani Walid, a town that had been a bastion of support for Colonel Qaddafi. | Mr. Werfalli, the businessman and activist, said he had tried to mediate among warring groups in the months after the uprising against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in 2011. He said he had connections on both sides, and tried to end clashes between legislators and militia leaders who held sway in Tripoli, and elders in Bani Walid, a town that had been a bastion of support for Colonel Qaddafi. |
| In tense all-night negotiations in 2012, Mr. Werfalli said he secured an agreement for the peaceful capitulation of Bani Walid that would allow a convoy of militia leaders and congressmen to enter and search the town. But he said hard-line legislators did not keep their word, and instead mounted a full-scale assault on the town. | In tense all-night negotiations in 2012, Mr. Werfalli said he secured an agreement for the peaceful capitulation of Bani Walid that would allow a convoy of militia leaders and congressmen to enter and search the town. But he said hard-line legislators did not keep their word, and instead mounted a full-scale assault on the town. |
| “They thanked me for saving blood, but they were behind the attack and they are behind the struggle today,” he said. As for fulfilling a peace agreement, he said: “It’s not going to work.” | “They thanked me for saving blood, but they were behind the attack and they are behind the struggle today,” he said. As for fulfilling a peace agreement, he said: “It’s not going to work.” |
| The militias have made Tripoli a dangerous place, forcing many like Mr. Werfalli to flee to Tunisia. “People are scared to go out,” he said. | The militias have made Tripoli a dangerous place, forcing many like Mr. Werfalli to flee to Tunisia. “People are scared to go out,” he said. |
| He advocates airstrikes against the most recalcitrant militias and then intervention on the ground by a peacekeeping force drawn from the Arab League that would be acceptable to Libyans. | He advocates airstrikes against the most recalcitrant militias and then intervention on the ground by a peacekeeping force drawn from the Arab League that would be acceptable to Libyans. |
| “The people would welcome it,” he said, adding that Libyans would also help fight the Islamic State. “The people have had it up to here,” he said, swiping the air above his head. | “The people would welcome it,” he said, adding that Libyans would also help fight the Islamic State. “The people have had it up to here,” he said, swiping the air above his head. |
| The front line runs through Libya’s second-largest city, Benghazi. Amal S. El-Obeidi, a professor at the University of Benghazi, warned that after a year of heavy fighting that had reduced whole neighborhoods to rubble, the civil war had driven a wedge through the population. “The city is divided,” she said. “Even within families there are divisions. This will be a challenge.” | The front line runs through Libya’s second-largest city, Benghazi. Amal S. El-Obeidi, a professor at the University of Benghazi, warned that after a year of heavy fighting that had reduced whole neighborhoods to rubble, the civil war had driven a wedge through the population. “The city is divided,” she said. “Even within families there are divisions. This will be a challenge.” |
| She fled Benghazi after two of her brothers were kidnapped — one is still missing — but she returned recently to help her students prepare for exams from April 2014, postponed for 18 months because of the fighting. | She fled Benghazi after two of her brothers were kidnapped — one is still missing — but she returned recently to help her students prepare for exams from April 2014, postponed for 18 months because of the fighting. |
| The university campus is off-limits, occupied by a group of revolutionaries and Islamist militias, while other parts of the town, controlled by the forces of General Hifter, are choked with displaced families. Electricity and the Internet are down for days at a time. “There are lines for cooking gas, at the banks, and the hospitals are severely affected,” she said. “In the evening you hear the rockets. They are shooting at each other.” | The university campus is off-limits, occupied by a group of revolutionaries and Islamist militias, while other parts of the town, controlled by the forces of General Hifter, are choked with displaced families. Electricity and the Internet are down for days at a time. “There are lines for cooking gas, at the banks, and the hospitals are severely affected,” she said. “In the evening you hear the rockets. They are shooting at each other.” |
| She advocates reforming Colonel Qaddafi’s army and police forces, retiring the senior men and promoting the younger officers. “We have an army. Their salaries are being paid” she said. “They just need the trust of the government.” | She advocates reforming Colonel Qaddafi’s army and police forces, retiring the senior men and promoting the younger officers. “We have an army. Their salaries are being paid” she said. “They just need the trust of the government.” |
| Southern Libya, wide open to trafficking and Islamist gangs, has also descended into ethnic strife. | Southern Libya, wide open to trafficking and Islamist gangs, has also descended into ethnic strife. |
| The Tebu, a black minority in southern Libya, complain they are living under siege in their own towns, threatened by government and militia forces, accused of being usurpers or migrants. The Tebu long suffered discrimination under Colonel Qaddafi’s rule, but were treated as heroes when they joined the uprising against him. Now, they are again under threat. | The Tebu, a black minority in southern Libya, complain they are living under siege in their own towns, threatened by government and militia forces, accused of being usurpers or migrants. The Tebu long suffered discrimination under Colonel Qaddafi’s rule, but were treated as heroes when they joined the uprising against him. Now, they are again under threat. |
| Khaled Wahli, 36, one of two Tebu representatives elected to a body drawing up a new constitution, carries a desk diary with him in which he has marked the mounting casualties in the town of Kufra, where the Tebu are trapped in enclaves surrounded by opposing militias. The most recent entry is of his cousin Nasr Wahli, 39, a police officer shot dead by an unknown sniper as he was walking home. | Khaled Wahli, 36, one of two Tebu representatives elected to a body drawing up a new constitution, carries a desk diary with him in which he has marked the mounting casualties in the town of Kufra, where the Tebu are trapped in enclaves surrounded by opposing militias. The most recent entry is of his cousin Nasr Wahli, 39, a police officer shot dead by an unknown sniper as he was walking home. |
| “What makes us sad is that the hate speech comes from the elite,” Mr. Wahli said. “We have observed much racism from the state, from officials.” Another Tebu leader, Sanusi Hamid, 32, blamed those attitudes on years of dictatorship and fear engendered by instability. | “What makes us sad is that the hate speech comes from the elite,” Mr. Wahli said. “We have observed much racism from the state, from officials.” Another Tebu leader, Sanusi Hamid, 32, blamed those attitudes on years of dictatorship and fear engendered by instability. |
| The Tebu have withdrawn from the constitutional process in protest that minority rights are being ignored, joining another group, the Amazigh, who have boycotted the process from the start. | The Tebu have withdrawn from the constitutional process in protest that minority rights are being ignored, joining another group, the Amazigh, who have boycotted the process from the start. |
| The effort to devise a new constitution during a civil war has been a tempestuous and testing task. “The assembly became a magnet of the disintegration of the state,” said Abdulsalam Hamtoun, one of the 56 deputies to the Constitutional Drafting Assembly. Yet after more than a year of talking, he says he is not without hope. | The effort to devise a new constitution during a civil war has been a tempestuous and testing task. “The assembly became a magnet of the disintegration of the state,” said Abdulsalam Hamtoun, one of the 56 deputies to the Constitutional Drafting Assembly. Yet after more than a year of talking, he says he is not without hope. |
| Ali al-Tarhouni, the president of the assembly and an early revolutionary, says it is the leaders who are fighting for power, not the people. “I have no doubt that the people — not the elite, the military, the militias and the media outlets, but the regular people — I have no doubt they never lost faith in the unity of the country.” | Ali al-Tarhouni, the president of the assembly and an early revolutionary, says it is the leaders who are fighting for power, not the people. “I have no doubt that the people — not the elite, the military, the militias and the media outlets, but the regular people — I have no doubt they never lost faith in the unity of the country.” |