Surge in Mercenaries Threatens Attempt to Stop War in Libya
Surge in Mercenaries Threatens Attempt to Stop War in Libya by Jared Malsin and Raja Abdulrahim – Wall Street Journal
As world powers back a cease-fire in Libya to end months of fighting, a recent injection of mercenaries by rival foreign backers threatens to unravel efforts to establish a long-term truce in the oil-rich North African country.
At a summit in Berlin on Sunday, Russia, Turkey, France, Italy, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates agreed to support a cease-fire and uphold a previously existing arms embargo in an attempt to quell the fighting. The eruption of a full-blown civil war last year in a country less than 200 miles from the closest European shores has alarmed Western powers.
Underscoring the challenges to any durable peace, leaders of the two main forces—a United Nations-backed government in the capital of Tripoli and militias loyal to a former commander in the Libyan army who is based in the country’s east—didn’t meet or talk directly at the gathering, though their representatives contributed to the discussions…
