EU naval operation irks Tripoli-based government

Menna Abdelrazik

The European Union has launched the naval operation, IRINI, apparently in response to the support Turkey offers the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) and the militias affiliated to it.

The operation will mainly try to prevent shipments of arms and mercenaries from arriving to Libya. This is why the GNA is speaking against it.

The operation, launched on April 26, aims to enforce a United Nations arms embargo on Libya. It will collect information about illegal oil exports from Libya as well as human trafficking operations in the North African country. The operation will last for a year.

Violations

In 2011, the United Nations Security Council passed resolution 1970 to ban the export of arms to Libya to prevent the conflict from becoming worse in the country. The ban includes arms, ammunitions, vehicles and military equipment.

On January 25, the United Nations mission in Libya expressed sorrow over violations of the arms embargo.

It said arms and foreign fighters continued to pour into the country from other countries, including some of those who had participated in the Berlin conference on Libya.

Rejection

Spokesman of the Libyan National Army, Ahmed al-Mesmari, revealed that Turkey had transferred 2,000 mercenaries from Syria to Libya, including fighters from ISIS and al-Nusra Front.

These hirelings, he said, arrived in Libya on board of passenger planes.

“Turkey also supplies the Tripoli-based militias with arms, drones, air defense systems and rocket launchers, despite the UN arms embargo on Libya,” al-Mesmari said.

Meanwhile, the GNA rejected operation IRINI more than one time in the past.

It said it had sent a message to the European parliament, in which it expressed opposition of the operation.

However, this gives insights into GNA fears from failure to receive supplies from Turkey in the future.