Western – 14 December 2014

Dec 14, 2014 | International actors

The future of the UN-sponsored peace talks known as the Ghadames II dialogue is still uncertain. The talks had been due to go ahead on 9 December but were postponed at the last moment and rescheduled for 16 December in the hopes that the main players could be persuaded to come on board. By 10 December UN Special Representative to Libya Bernardino Leon had managed to convince both the GNC and the HoR to send delegations to the dialogue. This change of heart by both teams was motivated primarily by the threat of UN sanctions. To make matters worse, Al-Thinni is also extremely angry by recent attempts by some western powers, but primarily the British, to get him to distance himself from Haftar. A minister in Al-Thinni’s government told the Arabic media this week, “we have information that Britain is forcefully seeking to put Haftar’s name on the sanctions list but France is objecting to that and preventing it.” The minister also accused Britain of “trying to save the Muslim Brotherhood and guarantee their participation in the Libyan political scene.” Al-Thinni clearly has no intention of giving up on Haftar who thanks to his Benghazi campaign has breathed new life into the House and its government and made it a relevant player once again.