Wednesday marks the 12-year anniversary of the first anti-Gaddafi protests in Benghazi, which quickly grew into a foreign-backed uprising, NATO intervention and ultimately, Libya’s breakup into warring statelets. Was there any way for Libya to avoid its fate? Sputnik explores.
Nearly 12 years since the overthrow of Libya’s longtime dictator, Muammar Qaddafi, the country remains divided, providing opportunities for malign foreign interference. European and Middle Eastern governments have exploited the Libyan conflict to advance narrow self-interests often at the expense of the Libyan people. Against this backdrop, the United Nations, via its support mission in Libya (UNSMIL), has worked to find a way to balance the interests of the Libyan people, political elites and powerful external actors to devise a political settlement and resolve the conflict.
The search for Muammar Qadhafi has intensified after Libyan rebels seized most of Tripoli. The initial focus was on Qadhafi’s Bab al-Aziziya compound and nearby apartment blocks in a neighborhood that contains many Qadhafi loyalists.
As the ramifications of the Syrian crisis continue, talks about forming a Syrian military council led by dissident brigade general Manaf Tlass resurfaced.