Libya and the Middle East

Libya

Fayez Musfata  Serrja, President Council of the Government of National Accord of Libya   

Middle Eastern societies have in the past five years experienced troubling times. The rise of ISIS posed danger to the region. This allowed terrorism to flourish as the rule of law vanished. ISIS took over much of Iraq and Syria, two countries facing political turmoil. Conquest of Mosul and Raqqa gave ISIS a landbase to launch terrorism oversea. Terrorists attacks carried out in Europe were directed and/or supported by ISIS leaders. In fact, many terrorists who carried out terror in other regions of the world were trained in ISIS territories such as Mosul and Raqqa.

In  2017, coalition-led by United States began the fight against ISIS. In Subsequent months, this coalition gain back much of the land conquered by ISIS in Iraq. Although ISIS lost their stranglehold in Iraq to Iraqis forces,  ISIS members adamantly continued to terrorize. Once defeated in Iraq, ISIS members disposed to different regions of the world experiencing political turmoil such Afghanistan and Libya.

In Libya, ISIS seized the opportunity of lawlessness to established itself as it did in Iraq and Syria. In our land, ISIS unleashed terrorism. In December 2017, Our president Fayez Serrja met his counterpart, President Donald Trump to discuss ways to combat ISIS in Libya. Therefore, we welcome United States assistance in helping our forces to combat terrorism. In addition, we support the war against ISIS in the Middle East.

The Syrian Civil War has been an obstacle to Middle Eastern prosperity. Nearing Arabs countries carried the burden by hosting Syrian refugees. Revenue that could been used by hosting countries for development is now being divert to assist Syrian refugees. Therefore, Syrian Civil War must be resolve quickly. We, the Libyan Government support the removal of Bashar Al-Assad from power. Throughout Syrian ordeal, President Al-Saad has shown his incompetence to rule Syria. He has used outlaw weapons such as chemical weapons to gassed to death those whom he sworn to protect.

Iran has launched  its conquest to dominate Arab countries. In both Syria and Yemen, Iranian influence in Arab affairs has grown. Therefore, we the Libyan government condemned Iranian influence in Arab affairs. We support Saudi Arabia efforts to roll back Iranian influence in the region.               

In December 6, 2018, US President Donald Trump announced Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. We the Libyan government reject this pronouncement. The US position violates UN Resolution 181, which designated Jerusalem as international zone. Our government supports Palestinian statehood as promised by UN Resolution 181, which advocates for both Jewish and Arab states in Palestine.

As mentioned, Middle East societies are experiencing troubling times. Conflicts in many Arab countries has allow terrorism to flourish. Therefore, we the Libyan Government call an end to fratricidal warfare in Middle East. Within 2-3 years, we would like to see a stable and prosper Syria, ruled by a democratic government. And we hope that the conflict in Yemen will be resolve. In Yemen, the Libyan government call for the return of  President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi to power. After suitable time, free and fair elections should be held in Yemen.  

In 10 to 15 years, the Libyan government would like to see the eradication of ISIS and other terrorist groups. In this time frame, we would like to see the establishment of Palestinian states as promised by UN Resolution 181. In addition, we would like to see the roll back of Iranian influence in the region.