As Libya descends into chaos and the jihadists of the Islamic State establish a foothold in this troubled country – in Malta’s and Europe’s backyard – the case for some form of international intervention becomes stronger by the day.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has told Parliament that UN military intervention in Libya is necessary to re-establish security as time is running out for the rival governments in Tripoli and Tobruk to form a national unity government.
The lawlessness and political vacuum in Libya has allowed Islamic State to gain ground and the longer the two sides in Libya’s conflict take to unite the stronger the jihadists will grow. Islamic State already controls the towns of Derma and Sirte and has established a presence in other cities such as Benghazi and even Tripoli – where the Corinthia Hotel was recently the target of a terrorist attack.
The barbaric beheadings of 21 Egyptian Christians by IS in Sirte last Saturday – executed simply because of their faith – shows that the jihadists in Libya are as brutal as their counterparts in Iraq and Syria and need to be stopped before more crimes against humanity take place.
Egypt responded to these murders by carrying out airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Libya and together with France and Italy insisted on yesterday’s emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the crisis in Libya.
Joined by Libya, it asked the council to lift an arms embargo on Libya and help it build its army’s capacity to tackle Islamic State and other extremist groups.
The stakes for Malta, and indeed the whole of southern Europe, are indeed very high in this Libyan crisis. A failed Libyan state, in which the jihadists control vast areas of territory, threatens our security and our economy, and could create a mass exodus of refugees and migrants, with obvious consequences.
Of course we need to exercise good judgement and not resort to alarmism when it comes to the tragedy of migration in the Mediterranean. Let’s remember desperate people are being used as pawns in the hands of brutal traffickers.
Italy indicated it was willing to lead a multinational force to tackle the jihadist threat, although it has since taken a step back, talking instead of monitoring a ceasefire and training local forces.
Ideally, if such a force did materialise, it should have the approval of both ‘governments’ in Libya. It is unfortunate that the Tripoli government’s representative in Malta, Hussin Musrati, says his government would not support such an international force. Hopefully, faced with the very real threat of jihadist advances in Libya, Tripoli will consider such a possibility very carefully.
Both Europe and Libya’s Arab neighbours need to understand that doing nothing is not an option and time is running out before the situation becomes absolutely hopeless. The international community must continue to urge the two blocs to work together, form a national unity government and adopt a common stand against IS.
If the two sides refuse to compromise the international community will have to take action, through a UN mandate, to stabilise the situation. Malta will play its part, as Dr Muscat has stated, through logistical and humanitarian support.
However, as a long time friend of the Libyan people, we must also double our diplomatic efforts to convince both sides to see common sense and unite against the latest jihadist threat against Libya.