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A policeman in Tripoli, Libya
A policeman in Tripoli. Western capitals predict the new government will approve a future military training programme for a new Libyan army. Photograph: Ismail Zitouny/Reuters
A policeman in Tripoli. Western capitals predict the new government will approve a future military training programme for a new Libyan army. Photograph: Ismail Zitouny/Reuters

New Libyan government prepares to establish Tripoli office

This article is more than 8 years old

Government of national accord in talks with militias to secure legitimacy and resume flow of foreign funds into capital

Ministers from a newly appointed Libyan unity government are expected to establish an office in Tripoli in the coming days, but their arrival is likely to be contested and could trigger fresh violence in the capital.

Western capitals predict the new government will give a green light to a future military training programme for a new Libyan army and back the US-led airstrikes against Islamic State militants already under way.

The new government of national accord was nominated over the weekend by a UN-recognised provisional government in exile, the presidency council based in Tunis, a move that was quickly endorsed by the US, the UN and EU.

The list of proposed ministers has yet to receive a vote of approval from the house of representatives (HoR), a UN-backed assembly in Tobruk, as had been envisaged in a political settlement agreed in Morocco in December. But western diplomats say the volatile and often violent nature of Libyan politics meant that many HoR members were not able to cast their votes. Instead, the presidency council chose to interpret the endorsement of about 100 HoR members as a “green light” to proclaim the new government.

It is widely accepted that the government will have no real legitimacy without moving to Tripoli, the seat of most state institutions, but that will not be easy. It is opposed by the leadership of the Islamist-dominated general national congress (GNC) and at least one hardline militia, the Samood Front. Even members of the negotiating group that produced the December agreement have voiced doubts on its legitimacy without a formal HoR vote.

However, negotiations are under way this week with other Tripoli militias prepared to accept the new government, if only because its arrival would resume the flow of foreign funds into the Libyan capital. Those talks are hoped to clear the way for the quiet arrival of at least some of the new ministers, including the prime minister designate and the head of the presidency council, Fayez al-Sarraj. That would establish at least a symbolic presence that the UN, US and Europe hope will bring the support of other power-brokers in Libya’s chaotic political and military landscape.

However, it is expected that the Samood Front, Isis and other hardline Islamists in Tripoli would seek to target the ministers, triggering a flareup of violence in the capital. The ministers would have to stay for the immediate future in a single heavily guarded location.

Isis in Libya map

Western diplomats say they expect the new government to authorise a multinational stabilisation force under Italian leadership, which would train new Libyan troops in a secure facility such as an airport, but would not go on patrol or conduct operations. Talks begin in Rome on Tuesday on national contributions to that force. The UK has promised to provide up to 1,000 troops, as have Germany, France and Spain. The US also hopes the government would authorise its anti-Isis operations already under way in the country with the use of airstrikes and special forces.

However, Mattia Toaldo, a Libya specialist at the European council on foreign relations, expressed doubt that the newly appointed Libyan government would risk giving open approval for such operations.

“Its legitimacy is already under question before it arrives. Imagine if its first act was to invite foreign troops on to Libyan soil,” Toaldo said.

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