Algerian Minister decries foreign interference in Libya

Ahmed Attaf, the Algerian Minister of State and Foreign Affairs, has warned about the deepening Libyan crisis amid complex international cooperation towards Libya’s future, according to the Algerian government-friendly outlet AL24 on September 30^th.

Attaf stated that the situation risks becoming more complicated by the day as international attention towards Libya diminishes, whilst the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) attempts to steer the country through another political roadmap.

“After 14 years since its outbreak, this brotherly country remains trapped in divisions that are fuelled, nurtured and exploited by foreign interventions, according to plans that bear no relation to the well-being, security or stability of Libya.” Attaf declared in his address to the General Debate of the 80^th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

He added that “had the matter been left solely to the hands of the Libyans, they would have long ago managed to overcome their differences and set the country on the path to resolving the crisis.”

Libya is entrapped in a divisive political framework as a result of the political vacuum left by Muammar Gaddafi’s ousting in 2011, manifesting in two rival administrations based in eastern Libya and western Libya- the latter based in the capital of Tripoli and recognised by the UN.

The Algerian Minister criticised the “foreign interference in Libya’s internal affairs”, which he deemed to be detrimental to Libya’s unification and future stability.

US President Donald Trump has reportedly been aiming to renew American influence in Libya through his characteristic strategy of commercial populism and leveraging economic partnerships, a move which risks positioning the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity as preferential and enlarging the fractures in Libya’s political framework.

Algeria themselves have been keen to forge closer ties to Libya. Earlier this year Algeria reportedly began considering a possible alliance with Libya and Tunisia to maintain its strategic position in the region, as a response to the burgeoning Sahel Alliance backed by Russia.