Saturday 27 / April / 2024
Libya’s new designate prime minister Fayez Serraj is the Wizard of Oz of the Maghreb. Great and powerful in the eyes of Western powers, but behind the facade, weak and helpless before the power of Tripoli’s militias.
On Monday 18th April this Wizard act will reach perfection when he addresses the powerful foreign and defence ministers of the European Union gathered at a dinner in Luxembourg, his words coming to them by video link rather than in person, as he pleads for their help.
But strip away the curtain, and you have a man so lacking in confidence that he has sent his wife and children to live in Britain, far from Libya’s chaos.
Consider: Serraj arrived with his, rather the UN's, self-proclaimed, absurdly named, Presidential Council passing off as the Government of National Accord by Libyan warship in the capital a fortnight ago, because militias had threatened to shoot down his plane. But this arrival was a sham. He was taken most of the way from exile in Tunis by Italian warship, then transferred to a barely sea worthy Libyan patrol boat for the last leg of the journey to preserve the illusion that this was a Libyan operation.
Even before he left Tunis, two of his nine-strong presidency quit, accusing him of sidestepping the elected parliament in Tobruk, whose authority is required to make his position legal. As for his cabinet of 30 ministers and 60 deputy ministers, they are nowhere to be seen, most content to stay behind in Tunis.
No matter. For Britain and America, his chief backers, both eyeing fat oil contracts if things work out, Serraj is Libya’s saviour. They have plucked an obscure Tripoli businessman to bring peace to Libya, ending the war between the Islamist National Salvation government in Tripoli and the elected parliament (HOR) in Tobruk. The plan then is for Serraj to head a united Libyan army crushing both IS and the migrant-smuggling gangs, the West’s twin Libya headaches. As if.
To preserve this illusion, western dignitaries are arriving in staged visits to the Libyan capital, a virtual Potemkin Village show in which they pretend their new guy is in control.
They arrive amid tight security at the city centre Mitega airport, guarded by the few militias who have taken Serraj’s side, and his promise of fat pay rises. From there it is a nervy two mile dash in armoured cars down the coastal highway to the naval base. Once the dignitaries are inside, they stay long enough for the all-important photographs showing handshakes and meetings among the potted plants before scurrying away again.
On Saturday, the French and German foreign ministers completed this sham just in time: Soon after their planes flew away, a militia blew up the home of a politician who had dared object to the new government. Hours later, another militia attacked the home of deputy designate prime minister, Ahmed Maiteeg from Misrata. Neither man was home, wisely staying well clear of this militia-infested city, but the second attack saw rival militias bring tanks onto the streets in fighting that spluttered for five hours. Of Serraj there was no sign. He has spent most of the last fortnight abroad, in Cairo, Istanbul, London and Tunis, anywhere but Libya.
America’s Libya envoy Jonathan Winer tried to play down Saturday’s fighting, tweeting: “Shots fired, clash unintended & over quickly.” That might convince those in Western capitals. It does not convince those Tripolitanians who spent Saturday night cowering in their basements.
None of this will be mentioned in Monday night’s Luxembourg gala dinner. EU leaders will maintain the facade, and in fact enhance it, promising troops, aid workers and diplomats to be sent to Tripoli, with scant regard for the safety of these personel in Libya’s equivalent of Dodge City. - Exclusive to Times of Oman
