Libya at risk of ‘sliding back into chaos’, Qatar warns

DOHA

Libya faces the risk of “sliding back into chaos and insecurity”, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry warned Thursday amid reports of fresh military escalations in the troubled North African country.

The ministry issued the warning in a statement released shortly after Libya’s UN-backed unity government claimed to have spotted forces loyal to military commander Khalifa Haftar near capital Tripoli.

Haftar is affiliated with a rival Libyan government based in the eastern city of Al-Bayda.

“Qatar is following with great concern recent military escalations in Libya and warns against a further slide into chaos and insecurity in the west of the country [near Tripoli],” the ministry statement read.

It went on to warn that the escalations -- if confirmed -- threaten to derail a planned national dialogue conference slated for April 14 in the western city of Ghadames.

Sponsored by the UN, the three-day event is ostensibly aimed at devising a “roadmap” for Libya’s political future.

Earlier Wednesday, Fayez al-Sarraj, head of Libya’s Tripoli-based government, ordered the government’s security forces to “prepare for -- and respond to -- any threats aimed at destabilizing the region”.

On the same day, Haftar reportedly ordered his forces to deploy to western parts of the country with a view to “purging the region of terrorist groups and strongholds”.

The move has prompted speculation that pro-Haftar forces plan to march on Tripoli, where the fragile unity government is headquartered.

Libya has remained beset by turmoil since 2011, when a bloody NATO-backed uprising led to the ouster and death of President Muammar Gaddafi after four decades in power.

Since then, the country’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of power: one in the eastern city of Al-Bayda, to which Haftar is linked, and another in Tripoli.