TRIPOLI: US Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday called for a halt to “dangerous” levels of violence in Libya after militia clashes in Tripoli closed the country’s main airport, destroyed most planes parked there, and prompted the United Nations to evacuate its staff.
In some of the worst violence in months, at least 15 people have been killed in clashes in Tripoli and the eastern city of Benghazi since Sunday, and a Libyan official said several Grad rockets hit the Tripoli International Airport on Monday, damaging the control tower.
With its new government struggling to impose order since the 2011 rebellion that ousted Muammar Gaddafi, Libya is sliding deeper into turmoil with rival brigades of former rebels battling for political and economic power.
So far the authorities have attempted to rein in militia fighters by putting them on the government payroll, but months of protests over oilfields and ports have cut into the government’s revenues as its economic troubles mount.
“We are deeply concerned about the level of violence in Libya,” Kerry told a news conference following talks on Iran’s nuclear programme in Vienna. “It is dangerous and it must stop. We are working very, very hard through our special envoys to find the political cohesion ... that can bring people together to create stronger capacity in the government of Libya so that this violence can end.” Western powers fear chaos in Libya will allow arms and militants to flow across its borders.
Government spokesman Ahmed Lamine said Tripoli was studying the possibility of international forces to improve security. But it was unclear whether there was any real Libyan proposal or international willingness to have foreign troops based in the North African state where heavily armed militias often clash.
Reuters
