10 July – 16 July: US made missiles discovered amongst LNA forces found to belong to France

Jul 16, 2019 | International actors

On 16 July, the Governments of Egypt, France, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States issued a statement calling for an immediate de-escalation and halt to the current fighting, urging the prompt return to the UN-mediated political process, and stressing there can be no military solution in Libya. They also called for all parties to the Tripoli conflict to dissociate themselves from terrorists and individuals designated by the UN Sanctions Committee and cited the relevant UNSC Resolutions relating to the arms embargo and safeguarding of Libya’s oil resources.

On 11 July, the UN Deputy Envoy to Libya, Stephanie Williams, met with the senior leadership of the eastern-based Central Bank of Libya (CBL) in Benghazi, along with three eastern commercial banks and the Libyan Business Council’s Benghazi Branch. The meeting was intended to brief the figures on the UN Support Mission in Libya’s (UNSMIL) push to reform Libya economic structures and bolster business. Williams reiterated UNSMIL’s desire to move forward with an audit of the competing CBL branches in order to unify the institution.

On 8 July, a briefing by two US officials to the US House and Senate foreign relations panels confirmed that the four American-made Javelin anti-tank missiles discovered among Libyan National Army (LNA) forces in Ghariyan belonged to France. Worth more than $170,000 each, the US State Department launched an investigation into the incident following their discovery in the town in late June, with initial reports suggested they had been the property of the UAE. An adviser to the French armed forces minister confirmed the missiles belonged to French forces, purchased from the US in 2010, but denied they had been sold or given to the LNA. The adviser claimed the missiles were no longer usable, were being temporarily stored in a warehouse awaiting destruction, and were not handed over to the LNA forces. The weapons were allegedly intended to protect French intelligence and counter-terrorism forces operating in Libya.