Cyrenaica

Tension is high in Tripoli with the Libyan presidential council of Premier Fayez Al Sarraj warning against a ”new spiral of violence” and a militia boasting that it has closed the foreign ministry. The fresh tension was sparked by the ‘summit’ earlier this month in Abu Dhabi between Sarraj and the strongman of Cyrenaica, general Khalifa Haftar, as shown by statements and comments. What has emerged, after seeing the statements and official remarks after the meeting on May 2, is that Arab media presented as an agreement what were apparently Haftar’s negotiating positions: the creation of a three-member presidential council with Haftar, Sarraj and the president of Parliament, Aghila Saleh; the unification of the army under the general’s command; a ban on some Islamist militias; presidential elections to be held in a few months during which Haftar himself could present his candidature. But a lot of protestations are growing up against the agreement. The main risk could be the re-emergence of violences from militias, especially in Tripoli which have the same objective rejects Haftar as Army supreme commander.