UN Chief Condemns 'Unprecedented' Foreign Interference in Libya

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. (Getty Images)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. (Getty Images)
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UN Chief Condemns 'Unprecedented' Foreign Interference in Libya

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. (Getty Images)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. (Getty Images)

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday that foreign interference in the Libya conflict has reached "unprecedented levels," with sophisticated equipment and mercenaries involved in the fighting.

Guterres denounced the situation during a ministers-level UN Security Council video conference, expressing particular concern about the military forces massing around the city of Sirte, halfway between Tripoli in the west and Benghazi in the east.

"The conflict has entered a new phase with foreign interference reaching unprecedented levels, including in the delivery of sophisticated equipment and the number of mercenaries involved in the fighting," he said.

Forces loyal to the Government of National Accord (GNA), "with significant external support, continued their advance eastward" and are 25 kilometers (15 miles) west of Sirte, Guterres said.

GNA units had tried twice before to seize the city, he noted.

The government, with Turkey's backing, is battling forces loyal to the Libyan National Army, commanded by Khalifa Haftar.

"We are very concerned about the alarming military build-up around the city, and the high-level of direct foreign interference in the conflict in violation of the UN arms embargo, UN Security Council resolutions, and commitments made by member states in Berlin" in January, Guterres said.

He did not name any particular countries.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, whose country holds the rotating Security Council presidency, slammed violations of the arms embargo in place for Libya since 2011.

"While the entire world closed its borders, ships, planes and trucks with weapons and mercenaries continued to arrive in Libyan cities," he said.

His counterpart from Niger, Kalla Ankourao, joined many others in echoing Guterres' comments.

"Libya does not need more weapons, does not need mercenaries" but rather "reconciliation," Ankourao said.

Guterres said UN-led talks with military leaders from both sides were focused on the departure of foreign mercenaries, counter-terrorism cooperation, "disarmament and demobilization of armed groups throughout Libya, and modalities for a possible ceasefire mechanism."

He also raised the possibility of creating a demilitarized zone to be controlled by the UN mission in Libya.

The presence in Libya of Russian and Syrian mercenaries has been raised as problematic since the start of the year.

Guterres said the latest fighting in southern Tripoli and the Tarhouna region had forced nearly 30,000 people to flee the violence, bringing the total of internally displaced people in Libya to more than 400,000.



Tunisia Hands Lengthy Prison Terms to Top Politicians and Former Security Officials

Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)
Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)
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Tunisia Hands Lengthy Prison Terms to Top Politicians and Former Security Officials

Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)
Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)

A Tunisian court on Tuesday handed jail terms of 12 to 35 years on high-profile politicians, including opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi and former security officials, a move that critics say underscores the president's use of the judiciary to cement “authoritarian rule”.

Among those sentenced on charges of conspiring against the state in the major mass trial, were Nadia Akacha, the former chief of staff to President Kais Saied, local radio Mosaique FM said. Akacha who fled abroad received 35 years.

Ghannouchi, 84, veteran head of the Islamist-leaning Ennahda party, was handed a 14-year term.

Ghannouchi who was the speaker of the elected parliament dissolved by Saied, has been in prison since 2023, receiving three sentences of a total of 27 years in separate cases in recent months.

A total of 21 were charged in the case, with 10 already in custody and 11 having fled the country.

The court sentenced former intelligence chief Kamel Guizani to 35 years, former Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalem to 35 years, and Mouadh Ghannouchi, son of Rached Ghannouchi, to 35 years. All three have fled the country.

Saied dissolved the parliament in 2021 and began ruling by decree, then dissolved the independent Supreme Judicial Council and sacked dozens of judges, a move that opposition called a coup which undermined the nascent democracy that sparked in 2011 the so-called “Arab Spring” uprisings.

Saied rejects the accusations and says his steps are legal and aim to end years of chaos and corruption hidden within the political elite.

Most opposition leaders, some journalists, and critics of Saied have been imprisoned since he seized control of most powers in 2021.

This year, a court handed jail terms of 5 to 66 years to opposition leaders, businessmen and lawyers on charges of conspiring as well, a case the opposition says is fabricated in an attempt to stamp out opposition to the president.