The African Union to intervene to solve the Libyan crisis

Ali Rajab

The regime of Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, keeps transferring mercenaries from Syria to Libya.

This violates United Nations resolutions and the recommendations of the Berlin conference on Libya.

The transfer of the mercenaries reflects Turkey’s expansionist policies and its desire to threaten the security of Libya and its neighboring countries.

Meanwhile, the African Union considers the possibility of sending troops to Libya.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has revealed that the number of Syrian mercenaries in Libya has risen to 2,900.

It said Turkey continues registering the names of Syrian fighters who want to go to Tripoli to fight within the militias of the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord.

The observatory noted that about 1,800 Syrian fighters had already arrived in Turkey to receive training before being sent to Tripoli.

There is a general state of anger, the observatory said, in Turkey at the transfer of Syrian hirelings to Libya.

It said it had documented the death of 72 mercenaries in ongoing battles in Idlib.

On January 28, a Turkish vessel arrived in the coast of Tripoli, carrying a wide range of arms and equipment.

National Libyan Army Spokesman, Ahmed al-Mesmari, considered the arrival of the new shipment of Turkish arms as an invasion of Libya.

“This violates all international laws,” al-Mesmari said. “The arrival of these arms also violates the ceasefire in Libya.”

The African Union is reportedly considering an Algerian proposal for sending African troops to Libya.

According to an Algerian diplomat, the Algerian prime minister and foreign minister lobbied strongly for adopting this proposal during the latest gathering on Libya in the Republic of Congo.

Diplomatic sources in Algeria revealed that authorities have been urging members of the African Union AU to send forces to Libya to enforce a ceasefire.

The aim of the endeavor is to limit Turkey’s direct interference in the Libyan issue, both politically and militarily.

Sources explained that the next step for Algerian diplomacy would be to lay out the proposal to conflict parties in Libya, but suggested that Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the leader of the Libyan National Army, would reject it because of his lukewarm relationship with Algeria.

Observers believe that the presence of African forces in Tripoli, paves the way for stopping the war, stabilizing the ceasefire, and launching the political process for a solution in the country that has witnessed war since 2011.

They pointed out that efforts to send African forces make the African Union the first player in ending the conflict, supporting dialogue and launching a broad peace process in Libya, to end years of war, but they warned against the efforts of the Muslim Brotherhood, Turkey and Qatar to obstruct the African role inside Libya, in light of their plans to support militias Al-Sarraj with mercenaries and weapons, and working to equip the Tripoli militias and Misurata in order to impose a military solution and engage in a wide war against the Libyan National Army forces.