weeksof thefighting, whichhasnowstalled.TheU.N.-
backedGovernmentof NationalAccordhasrefusedto
negotiatewithHaftar.PrimeMinisterFayezal-Serraj
hasoffered a newplanfor a ceasefire, butit doesnot
include Haftarin anyfuturegovernment.Thisis unac-
ceptable to Haftar,whohassaidthathe wantsal-Serraj
gone.TheU.N.backsal-Serraj,whohasalsoreceived
armsandfundsfromTurkey.Duringthehighpoint of
2011,whentheoldgovernmentsof Tunisia,Egyptand
Libyafell, Turkeywatchedwithpleasureas various
MuslimBrotherhoodgovernmentscameto powerin
thesecountries.Turkey’sJusticeandDevelopmentParty,
led by RecepTayyip Erdogan, is the Turkishfranchiseof
the MuslimBrotherhood.
Theriseof theMuslimBrotherhoodin thesecoun-
triesset off alarmbellsin Egypt’s militaryandin the
families thatrunSaudi ArabiaandtheUAE.They
formeda blocto overthrowtheMuslim
Brotherhoodin EgyptandTunisia,andtheir
backingof Haftarwaspartof theirwider
regional waragainsttheBrotherhood.Al-
Serrajis nota manof the MuslimBrother-
hood, but he is nonetheless a bulwark
against thefull-scale takeover of North
Africaby Egypt,the Saudisandthe Emiratis.
This war in Libya—ignited by NATO’s
bombingof thecountry—is partof there-
gionalcoldwar.
Evidencesuggests thatit wasHaftar’s
aircraft that bombedthe detention centres.
Buthe shouldnotalonebe in thedock.
Alongsidehimwouldbelongthearchitects
of NATOandthe governmentsthatare part
of thisregionalcoldwar.All of thembearsomemeasure
of responsibilityfor the dangerous situationin Libya.EUROPE’SDETENTIONCENTRE
In 2015,Europefaceda refugeecrisis.Hundreds of
thousandsof migrantsgathered alongtheedgeof the
MediterraneanSeato makea dangerouscrossinginto
Europe. Theyfled SyriaandTurkeyin smallboats,head-
ing towardsGreece, or got intounstableboatsin Libya to
crosstowardsItaly.Thousandsof themdied.Europe
begantofind waysto blockthe arrivalof these migrants
to its shores. Its coastguardwould returnmigrantsto
Libya andTurkey,fencesroseat its borders,andits
armieswentintotheSahelregionof Africato virtually
builda wallto prevent migrantsfromgettinganywhere
nearthe MediterraneanSea.
NATO’swarin Libyahadmadeit the primedestina-
tionfor migrants, manyof whomwerebrought thereby
peoplesmugglers whowouldthenputthemintoleaky
boats andwishthemluck.Oneinfive migrantswhogot
intothoseboatsdrowned.
TheEuropean Union(E.U.) beganto collaborate
withtheGovernmentof NationalAccordin Libyaand
withvariousLibyan militiagroups.E.U.moneywentto
theLibyan CoastGuard,whichtookto shootingat hu-
manitarianvessels thatcameintoLibyanwatersto res-
cuemigrants. In 2017, theItaliangovernmentsigneda
dealwiththe Libyan governmentthatallowedthe Libyan
CoastGuardto interceptboats headingto Italyandto
return the refugees and migrants to Libya. These
refugeesandmigrants werethenhandedoverto deten-
tioncentres.
TheLibyan government runscloseto 20 detention
centres, whileotherentities,includingmilitiagroups,
runanother dozen.Manyof the officialdetentioncentres
are alsorunby ad hocmilitiagroupsthatare paidby the
governmentwiththemoneyfromtheEuropeans.The
Az-Zawiyadetentionfacility,for example,is supposedly
runby the government butis in factrunby the al-Nasr
Brigade of Muhammadal-Khushlaf, also knownas
al-Qasseb.
TheU.N.saysthattheconditionsin thisdetention
centre are “inhumane”.It is saidthatal-Khushlafis the
mentorof a peoplesmugglernamedAb-
delrahman al-Milad, alsoknownas Bija.
Bija,whohasbeencalledthe“kingpinof
Libya’s humantrafficking mafia”, is paidby
the Europeansfor his dualroleas a Libyan
CoastGuardcommander. Thedetaineesin
these campsare usedas forcedlabour.De-
tainees in other campshavebeensoldinto
slavery.
Libyahasdriftedoutof theconscious-
nessof the world. It re-entersonlybecause
tragedyhasstruck.Thesituationon the
ground is terribleandthedangers beyond
description.Europe’s rhetoric of concernis
meaninglesshere.It is thearchitectof this
tragedy. $ILLEGALIMMIGRANTSat a detention centrein
Zawiyah,nearTripoli,on June17, 2017.
TAHAJAWASHI/AFPPRIMEMINISTER
Fayezal-Serraj.ULFLAESSING/REUTERS