This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen
on .
It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
Seizure of Libya oil terminals sparks call for military action
Seizure of Libya oil terminals sparks call for military action
(about 3 hours later)
Libya’s internationally backed government has urged its forces to act after two oil terminals fell to rival troops, raising fears of further violence in a country already gripped by turmoil.
Forces opposed to the UN-backed Libyan government in Tripoli appear to be making a clean sweep through the country’s “oil crescent”, seizing control of oil terminal headquarters and gaining a stranglehold over the export of Libya’s economic lifeblood.
The call came after forces loyal to the unrecognised eastern authority seized two key export facilities on Sunday.
The capture of the oil terminals through the weekend and Monday changes the balance of political forces inside Libya and makes the survival of the UN-backed, Tripoli-based government of national accord (GNA) less likely.
The Tripoli-based Government of National Accord called on all forces loyal to it to “protect and defend” the ports against what it called “flagrant aggression” of Libyan sovereignty.
The oil ports were seized by forces under the control of General Khalifa Hafter, who opposes the GNA and supports the rival government in the eastern city of Bayda. The victory for Hafter is likely to increase his prestige and his negotiating power in the event of Libya being carved up.
The two Mediterranean ports are in Libya’s “oil crescent”, and seen as a vital source of income for the GNA which is struggling to assert its authority.
The clashes also mean that the possibility of an economic revival driven by oil production and export is further away than ever. Six western nations had issued a joint appeal in August urging that oil facilities be freed from the civil war.
Previously controlled by guards allied to the GNA, the ports of Al-Sidra and Ras Lanuf were seized by forces loyal to General Khalifa Haftar.
The Libyan national oil corporation, one of the few technocratic bodies left in Libya, had produced a clear plan to revive oil production and exports this year.
One of the most powerful military figures in Libya, Haftar is allied with a rival authority to the GNA based in the east.
Oil production, pipelines and terminals have been at the centre of the civil war since the collapse of the government of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Oil production has collapsed from a potential of more than 1.5m barrels a day to just 200,000.
Ahmad Mesmari, a spokesman for Haftar’s forces, told a press conference that another oil terminal at Zuwaytina was not yet under their control.
In a lighting strike on Sunday, the Libyan National Army (LNA) loyal to forces in the east of Libya took control of the neighbouring Sidra and Ras Lanuf oil terminal towns from the central region’s Petroleum Facilities Guards (PFG), headed by Ibrahim Jedhran.
A colonel with pro-GNA forces, allied to guards defending the facilities, confirmed that Haftar’s fighters were in control of Al-Sidra and Ras Lanuf.
In addition, LNA forces took the south and east gates at Ajdabiya and, overnight on Monday, the headquarters of the Zueitina oil terminal, leaving the PFG with virtually no territory under its control. UK and western forces had been planning to train the PFG into an a more effective fighting force.
Hatem El-Ouraybi, a spokesman for the eastern authority, told AFP the attack was aimed at “regaining full control of the oil crescent”.
The PFG appears to have fled, leaving its weapons, without any attempt to defend the installations. It had previously been accused of demanding bribes to keep the oil installations open.
“The government calls on all the people of the oil crescent area – including those who were in the oil installations guards – to join the army or return to their homes,” he said.
It is the first time there has been fighting between the LNA and the Tripoli government since the GNA took power in March. Hafter has been demanding a major role in the new government, which has failed to gain support from all the warring factions.
But the GNA on Facebook urged all “military forces” loyal to the unity government “to protect and defend the oil installations and terminals and to carry out their military and national duties bravely and without hesitation”.
In response to the attacks on the oil installations, the UN-backed government called for the LNA to be defeated. However, there was no immediate sign that any forces, such as the Misrata Brigades, would respond.
The GNA also called on Haftar’s forces to “immediately withdraw from all the sites they have attacked”.
The unity government called on all forces loyal to it to “protect and defend” the ports against “flagrant aggression” towards Libyan sovereignty.
Ras Lanuf and Al-Sidra are together capable of handling 700,000 barrels of oil per day but had been closed for months after jihadist attacks.
It warned overnight that the country was at a “critical juncture”, adding that “the hopes of Libyans for stability in the country have been dashed”.
In late July, the oil installation guards announced the reopening of the two ports after an agreement with the unity government to resume oil exports.
The head of the rival government in Bayda said it would work on reopening the ports as soon as possible.
They had been closed following attacks in January by the Islamic State group, who took advantage of turmoil after the 2011 uprising to gain a foothold in the country.
“We will work on the oil ports resuming work as soon as possible so as to guarantee all Libyans a decent life,” Abdullah al-Thani said.
In recent weeks, pro-GNA forces backed by US air strikes have been pressing a months-long campaign to expel the last Isis jihadists from what was their North African stronghold.
The LNA said the operation had been planned for months and was achieved largely without any bloodshed.
IS took the city of Sirte in June last year, sparking fears they would use the city west of the oil crescent as a launchpad for attacks in Europe.
PFG spokesman Ali al-Hassi at first attempted to deny the LNA had taken Sidra and Ras Lanuf. However, local news media and pictures posted on the internet suggested otherwise.
Haftar’s forces have since 2014 been fighting jihadists in the second city of Benghazi northeast of the oil-rich crescent.
Ras Lanuf and Sidra include not only the terminals, but also a 220,000-barrel-a-day refinery, a petrochemical complex, a military and a civil airport and oil company buildings. They are also home to 25,000 people.
UN Libya envoy Martin Kobler said on Twitter he was worried about the fighting.
“Oil belongs to ALL Libyans,” he tweeted. “Conflicts can only be solved through dialogue, not violence. Urge all parties to sit 2gether.”
Mattia Toaldo, a Libya expert with the European Council on Foreign Relations, said the seizure of the terminals could deal a fatal blow to Libya’s oil sector.
“Unless there is a very quick mediation, this could lead to conflict and a final blow to Libya’s oil industry,” Toaldo said.
Oil is Libya’s main natural resource with reserves estimated at 48bn barrels, the largest in Africa.
But since 2010 the country’s production has plummeted from 1.5m bpd to just 200,000 bpd.
Libya’s oil sector is managed by the National Oil Company which is split into two rival branches, one allied to the GNA and the other to the authority in the east.
Once pro-GNA forces expel Isis from Sirte and there is no buffer between them and Haftar’s army, either side “could easily clash again”, Toaldo said.
The pro-GNA military command is based in the city of Misrata.
The attack on the ports aimed to “take advantage of Misrata’s exhaustion after Sirte” and “undermine any negotiation on the future of the GNA”, Toaldo said.
Libya has been in chaos since the 2011 revolt that toppled and killed longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi, with rival authorities and militias vying to control the country.
A UN-brokered deal in December led to the unity government starting to work in Tripoli, but it has struggled to assert its authority.
The parliament in the east last month voted no confidence in the GNA in a setback to efforts to end the political chaos.
