Morocco’s Growing Role in Libya Worries Algeria
With two prospective Libyan elections on the agenda of the UN and the United States, The Libyan Parliament and High Council, the two bodies represented in the committee, have been meeting in Morocco for two weeks. The focus of these talks was to reach agreements on the organization of legislative and presidential elections by the end of the year which, according to recent reports, they appear to have done.
After hosting the signing of the Libyan political agreement in Skhirat in 2015, which was recognized by the United Nations, Morocco’s city of Bouznika became the venue for discussions among Libyan representatives, according to Yabiladi. The international community swiftly acknowledged Morocco’s efforts in facilitating dialogue between the parties involved. Organizations such as the United Nations, the League of Arab States, and the African Union praised Morocco’s role as a mediator in helping Libyan decision-makers reach consensus on electoral laws. Arab countries, such as Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Mauritania and Egypt, have also shown appreciation to Morocco for this work.
However, Algeria’s secretary general of the Arab Maghreb Union expressed dissatisfaction with Morocco’s involvement in the discussions. Immediately after the announcement of the agreement on electoral laws, Algerian Foreign Affairs Minister, Ahmed Attaf, had telephone conversations with Abdoulaye Bathily, the special representative of the United Nations Secretary-General and head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). During their discussion, they reviewed “the developments of the political and security situation in Libya, a brotherly country, in the light of the efforts deployed by the United Nations so that the Libyan parties can reach a definitive solution to the crisis. “Algeria proposed that the United Nations support Libyan actors in drafting the necessary agreements to prepare for timely presidential and legislative elections.
Former Algerian Foreign Affairs Minister, Ramtane Lamamra, during a meeting of Libya’s neighboring countries in Algeria in August 2021, accused certain foreign powers of seeking to increase their influence in Libya and using the country as a platform to redefine international balances. Algeria believes that the Libyan crisis concerns exclusively its “neighbors” namely: Tunisia, Egypt and of course Algeria.
Other key global players, like the United States, have not yet commented on Morocco’s involvement in Libyan affairs.
