On Saturday, the former head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Ghassan Salame, said that many foreign powers covet Libya for its vast reserves of oil, distinguished geographical location, and its long coast on the Mediterranean Sea.
Salame noted that such foreign countries are only interested in Libya, and not the Libyan people.
Salame added, in an interview with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, that there is no proxy war in Libya, but rather a war remotely controlled by foreign powers. He confirmed that the only way out of the current crisis is by reaching a consensus between the Libyan warring sides, restructuring the Presidential Council for a year and holding parliamentary elections.
The Lebanese academic expects the deteriorating status quo of Libya to continue for a while due to the failure to reach a suitable plan for a lasting solution. He further called on the Libyan parties to adhere to the UN Resolution No. 2510, thus urging the respect of the nationwide ceasefire and the enforcement of the arms embargo on Libya.
With regards to the resignation announcement made by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj of the Government of National Accord (GNA), Salame commented that the latter is really exhausted and got tired of the task of heading the government.
He added the United Nations does not have a mechanism to choose a successor to al-Sarraj, calling on the Libyans to reduce the number of presidential members to three.
The UNSMIL former head believed that the two security and maritime agreements signed by the GNA officials with Turkey are very important to the Turks, saying: “they fought alongside the Tripoli-based government in exchange for such agreements and will never abandon them.”
Regarding the American position on the Libyan crisis, he stated that the US is only concerned with Libyan oil and the fight against terrorism.