Can Libya move on? New plan to end ten years of fighting
Can Libya move on? On the tenth anniversary of the uprising that would lead to Gaddafi’s march on Benghazi and the French and UK-led intervention that would signal his downfall, the ensuing decade has been laden with tales of factional fighting, rival governments, proxy wars and migrant tragedies.
Now, a new UN plan raises hopes that Libya can reunify. Already there is agreement on an interim leadership, a common currency and the reopening of oil pipelines. What will it take to reach the goal of elections by the end of the year and a disarmament that never happened?
Some are nostalgic for Gaddafi’s Libya, which was never a state like any other; kept together by an elaborate patronage system rather than a state apparatus. Others blame the current chaos precisely on that system and on Western powers available to help topple a dictator but without much of a plan for what would follow. Ten years on, can a young, urbanised population take its own destiny in hand?
GUESTS
Jalel HARCHAOUI, Senior Fellow, Global Initiative
Anas EL-GOMATI, Director, Sadeq Institute
Catherine NORRIS-TRENT, Senior reporter, FRANCE 24
Mohamed ELJARH, Co-founder, Libya Outlook for Research and Consulting
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