In recent weeks Washington, US, has become more involved in supporting Libya’s political dialogue processes. US Ambassador to Libya, Peter Bodde, is now taking the lead on these efforts in a way he had not in the past, which is mainly due to the January 2017 resignation of US Special Envoy Jonathan Winer. The latter was a political appointee during the Obama Administration and was expected to leave his position after President Donald Trump’s January 2017 inauguration in Washington. While Winer had been tirelessly shuttling between foreign capitals to advance the dialogue, Bodde had managed the US Embassy to Libya from Tunis. More recently, however, Bodde has taken on more of Winer’s former responsibilities.

Last week he travelled to Amman, Tunis and Cairo to meet Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, Prime Minister Fayez Serraj and Egyptian Chief of Staff Mahmoud Hegazy, respectively. Bodde and Hegazy agreed that Libyans must eventually take ownership of the political dialogue process and that all factions should be included in talks. There has been some indication in the past that Egypt has taken initiative on the dialogue in order to block Libya’s Muslim Brotherhood participation in the country’s future. Bodde’s meeting with Haftar was the latest in a series of meetings between Haftar and world leaders that have indicated the increasing international acceptance of the controversial figure’s central role in Libya’s future.

Haftar has traditionally been closer to Russia, which was one of his earliest supporters and a country that stands to gain commercially from the close relations that it has deliberately fostered. Although Haftar has considered a rapprochement with US officials, his connections with Russia remain stronger. On 14 August, he arrived in Moscow with three of his sons as ministry of defence ‘advisers’ to meet with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during which the two were expected to discuss the implementation of the ten-point agreement that was recently made between Haftar and Serraj in Paris. There were also reports that Serraj intended to travel to Moscow to meet Haftar under Russian auspices. If Moscow can claim a leadership role in supporting Libya’s stability, including a major role for Haftar, it increases the chances of enjoying better future relations with Libya compared to its traditional adversaries such as those in Washington.

The extract above was taken from this weeks issue of Libya Politics & Security. For more information on the publication please contact us. If you would like a free sample of the publication then please fill out the form below.