Gen. Khalifa Hifter, Libya’s top army chief, speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in al-Marj, Libya, March 18, 2015.

Gen. Khalifa Hifter, Libya’s top army chief, speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in al-Marj, Libya, March 18, 2015. Mohammed El-Sheikhy/AP

What the West Can Do about The Biggest Obstacle to Libyan Stability

The more Libya's foreign allies can weaken Gen. Khalifa Hifter, the more fighters will break away from him and join the new government.

Over the past few weeks, forces loyal to Libya’s unity government have advanced on ISIS in its stronghold city of Sirte, pinning its fighters down in the city center. Unity government forces expect to make short work of liberating the city. A quick victory would be an important win for the fledgling government, but bigger obstacles still lie ahead. Perhaps the most formidable is Gen. Khalifa Hifter, a powerful commander in the east who has repeatedly made it clear that he will not accept the unity government. Instead, he has staked his political future on the deep polarization between secular and Islamist forces that has come to dominate North Africa.

The international community has by and large ignored Hifter, hoping that he will eventually comply with Libya’s second post-Arab Spring transition on his own accord. This is folly; Hifter has no reason to cooperate. Libya’s allies must do better.

Hifter’s opposition to cooperation began long before the unity government arrived in Tripoli in late March. In 2014, when conflict broke out between Hifter’s mainly eastern-based “Operation Dignity” alliance and the western-based “Libya Dawn” alliance, the general not only refused negotiations with his opponents, but deemed them a “malignant disease.” When the UN tried to hold talks between Libya’s two governments, Hifter continued his offensives. Ostensibly in defense of the then-internationally recognized House of Representatives in the east, Hifter attacked civilian airports and seaports of the rival Tripoli-based General National Congress.

Related: What A War With ISIS in Libya Would Look Like"

Related: In Libya, You Can Buy an Anti-Aircraft Gun on Facebook

Related: Here’s How US Special Operations Command Views Libya

Hifter continued to oppose peace even after the competing governments signed the December 2015 Libyan Political Agreement, which allowed the formation of the unity government under Faiez al-Serraj. Under the agreement, the House of Representatives was to approve the Serraj government within 10 days, but more than six months have passed without a vote. The eastern government repeatedly failed to reach a quorum, and the few times it did, members of parliament loyal to Hifter used physical violence to prevent a vote.

The international community, which has recognized the Serraj government as Libya’s sole legitimate authority, is urging all Libyans to “facilitate a peaceful and orderly transfer of power.” Hifter remains the elephant in the room. Much to the chagrin of Western powers, he has no reason to cooperate.

Article 8 of the Libyan Political Agreement stipulates that the Presidential Council of the unity government has the sole authority to appoint the heads of Libya’s military apparatuses. This is necessary for the civilian government to have real authority in a country that has been dominated by militias. But it is also a direct threat to Hifter, who was appointed chief of the House of Representatives’ armed forces in March 2015. The Serraj government will undoubtedly remove him from this post to ensure the cooperation of his rivals—namely powerful brigades from the western coastal city of Misrata.

While Hifter cannot be expected to cooperate, instead letting him essentially become the country’s new dictator is not the answer. Some might welcome Hifter’s iron fist, especially given his popular support in eastern Libya, but should the general try to exert control over Libya’s west and “liberate” Tripoli, the war with the powerful Misrata brigades will be far bloodier than the country’s past two years of conflict. Hifter may well lose this fight. Should he just retain control of eastern Libya—effectively federalizing the country—Tripoli will rightly dispute the loss of revenues from Libya’s eastern oilfields, and infighting will surely emerge between eastern factions whose loyalty to Hifter is already faltering.

Isolating Hifter is the proper course of action, but it is no easy task. Though some have already defected, it is hard to expect Libyans to break away from him given his powerful standing and his strong support from the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.

The West must work to isolate Hifter by more rigorously enforcing the UN arms embargo against him and enacting new sanctions on him and his cohorts, including his air force chief, Saqir al-Jroushi. Russia and China have blocked UN sanctions against key figures in the past, but at the very least, the US and the EU can levy their own sanctions.

The more the West can weaken Hifter, the more fighters will break away from him and join the new government. Whether he can be effectively isolated remains to be seen, but ignoring the problem will not make it go away. Until the issue is addressed, the commander will remain a thorn in Libya’s side, and the country a failed state.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.