On Saturday, Khalifa Haftar’s alliances blocked oil exports from heating areas in the country’s main ports, which adds more complications into the international summit aimed at bringing peace to the North African nation.
This economically-crippling move to the country’s main income source was a protest against Turkey’s decision to send troops to shore up Haftar’s rival, the head of Tripoli’s UN-recognised government Fayez al-Sarraj.
This comes as a priority in the agenda of Berlin’s conference that will take place on Sunday. As the United Nations attempts to extract a pledge from world leaders to stop meddling in the Libyan conflict, be it through supplying troops, weapons or financing.
“All foreign interference can provide some aspirin affect in the short term, but Libya needs all foreign interference to stop. That’s one of the objectives of this conference,” UN Libya envoy Ghassan Salame stated in an interview.
The presidents of Russia, Turkey and France as well as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are due to join the talks, held under the auspices of the UN.
Both Haftar and Sarraj are also expected, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas confirmed Saturday, ahead of the first gathering of such scale on the conflict since 2018.
After months of combat, which has killed more than 2,000 people, a ceasefire took effect on January 12 backed by both Ankara and Moscow, which is accused of supporting Haftar.
But Saturday’s blockade raised fears over the conflict.
“Our line at the UN is clear. Don’t play with petrol because it’s the livelihood of the Libyans,” warned Salame just hours before the blockade “Don’t play with petrol, be it by turning it into a weapon of war or a way to cause divisions or as a bidding tool.”
Jalal Harchaoui, an expert at the Hague-based Institute Clingendael, said the petrol blockade is part of “the logic of blackmail”.
“It can work, but there’s also a risk that Washington will react badly” he said, explaining that the US administration is deeply opposed to any move that could drive up crude prices.
The armed rival sparked since the uprising and killing of Moamer Kadhafi in 2011 has torn the oil-rich-country.
“We must end this vicious cycle of Libyans calling for the help of foreign powers. Their intervention deepens the divisions among the Libyans,” said Salame, noting that the place of international players should be to “help Libyans develop themselves”.
On the other hand, the UN has sought on multiple attempts to bid for peace, but talks failed to achieve any results. The UN envoy said Sunday’s meeting will also seek to “consolidate” the shaky ceasefire.
“Today we only have a truce. We want to transform it into a real ceasefire with monitoring, separation (of rival camps), repositioning of heavy weapons” outside urban zones, he said.
Erdogan warns
On the eve of the Berlin talks, Turkish President; Recep Tayyip Erdogan, played up Europe’s fears of a repeat of the 2015 refugee crisis. He warned Europe to stand united behind Sarraj’s government, as Tripoli’s fall could leave “fertile ground” for jihadist groups like IS or Al-Qaeda “to get back on their feet”.
With France in his first line of accusation for allegedly siding with Haftar, stated Erdogan that leaving Libya to the commander would be a “mistake of historic proportions”. France denied this accusation.
However, a diplomatic source noted that the fact that the commander already controls 80 percent of Libya needed to be taken into account.
The European Union is watching with growing alarm at the escalating strife on its doorstep as it counts on Libya as a gatekeeper deterring migrants from crossing the Mediterranean.
