Morocco to intervene in Libyan crisis, meeting planned

Morocco will host a meeting of the Libyan steering committee to prepare for elections on which hopes are pinned on breaking the deadlock which has left the country still divided with the UN, US and EU unable to broker a solution.

Morocco has by the past hosted meetings between Libyan rivals and so is no stranger to the various groups and their affiliations. In 2015, Morocco played a part in a UN agreement signed in the coastal city of Skhirate which still serves as a reference for a political and peaceful settlement of the crisis in Libya. The Moroccan elite still believe to this day that this agreement can be the basis for peace and transitioning Libya towards a democracy.

There are few details present about what to expect from Rabat and the meeting but Italian media nonetheless reported it, citing Libyan House of Representative spokesman Abdullah Belhaq – according to a state friendly Moroccan website called North African Post.

He said views are converging between the rivals after they agreed on mechanisms to make progress towards elections.

A political process to resolve more than a decade of conflict in Libya has been stalled since an election scheduled for December 2021 collapsed amid disputes over the eligibility of major candidates.

The U.N.-backed government in the capital of Tripoli has very loose control over about a third of the country. To the east, Libya is controlled by a renegade general leading what they have called the Libyan National Army, which has tried and failed to topple the government in Tripoli.

Libya has descended into chaos since 2011 as the country is de-factor divided between a Tripoli-based government in the west and vast swathes of the east under the control of renegade general Khalifa Haftar.