UN to convene Libya conference
January 14, 2015, 4:00 am

A coalition of Islamist fighters seized control of the airport on August 24 after two months of ongoing battles [Xinhua]

The UN and member states are hoping that the talks will produce a formula to end the country’s deepening civil war which began when an Islamist faction known as Libya Dawn seized control of the capital Tripoli and its airport in August.

Backed by the European Union, the UN hopes that the talks will eventually lead to a unity government.

The internationally recognized government fled the capital and set up a base in Benghazi, Libya’s second largest city located in the West.

But there are fears in the international community that the talks could be scuttled at the last minute if Libya Dawn representatives fail to turn up in Geneva.

On Tuesday, a Libya Dawn spokesperson blamed the UN for poor planning and said the group now in control of the capital had not given its final confirmation that it would attend the talks.

That would be a huge blow to international peace efforts to end a humanitarian crisis unfolding in Libya.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has repeatedly warned since August that the fighting had forced several hundred thousand people to leave their homes.

“In all, we estimate that more than 393,420 people have become internally displaced in Libya since violence escalated in May. They are scattered across 35 towns and cities and are in dire need of shelter, health care, food, water and other basic commodities,” UN spokesperson Adrian Edwards told the media in mid-November.

According the UN News Centre, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) in Geneva is particularly disturbed by “reports of increased human rights abuses, beheadings of activists and the recent closure of Libya’s national human rights institution in Tripoli”.

Libya has been in a state of civil war and instability since Muammar Qaddafi was removed from power and killed.

During the past two years, Islamist militia once allied with dissident forces moved to seize control of key Libyan cities, managing to capture the capital after fierce fighting in August.

Last week, the government accused Islamist militia reportedly allied with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant of executing 14 army soldiers.

Western intelligence agencies say that Libya has increasingly become a base of extremist activities.

The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies