Libya’s internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) on Saturday brought fighters closer to Sirte, a gateway to Libya’s main oil terminals that the GNA said it plans to recover from the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) ) based in the east.
GNA witnesses and military commanders said a column of about 200 vehicles moved east from Misrata along the Mediterranean coast to the city of Tawergha, about a third of the way to Sirte.
The GNA recently recaptured most of the LNA-held territory in north-western Libya, ending the 14-month campaign by the renegade eastern-based military commander, Khalifa Haftar, to take the capital Tripoli before the new front line will solidify between Misrata and Sirte.
Backed by Turkey, the GNA has said it will recapture Sirte and an LNA air base in Youfra.
But Egypt, which supports the LNA along with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Russia, has threatened to send troops to Libya if the GNA and Turkish forces try to seize Sirte.
The United States has said that Moscow has sent fighter jets to YouFra through Syria to act in support of Russian mercenaries fighting alongside the LNA. Moscow and the LNA deny it.
The LNA has dispatched fighters and weapons to bolster its defense of Sirte, already battered by previous phases of the war and chaos since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that led to the overthrow of ruler Muammar Gaddafi.
EU countries threaten sanctions
Meanwhile, the leaders of France, Italy and Germany said in a joint statement on Saturday that they were “ready to consider” sanctions on foreign powers that violate an arms embargo on Libya.
The statement did not directly name any foreign actors to channel weapons into Libya, but multiple powers have been sending fighters and weapons, fueling a bloody power war that reflects broader geopolitical divisions and divisions in the Middle East and within NATO.
“We urge all foreign actors to end their growing interference and fully respect the arms embargo established by the United Nations Security Council,” the statement said.
“We are ready to consider the possible use of sanctions if breaches of the embargo continue at sea, on land or in the air.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said they therefore “await the proposals that the EU High Representative / Vice-President will make to this end.”
Expressing “grave concerns” over the escalation of military tensions in Libya, they called on “all Libyan parties and their foreign supporters to immediately stop the fighting and stop the ongoing military build-up across the country.”
NOC urges foreign mercenaries to leave
Also on Saturday, the Libyan National Petroleum Corporation (NOC) called for the immediate removal of foreign mercenaries from oil facilities in the country.
In a statement, the NOC condemned the deployment of Russia’s Wagner Group and Syrian and Janjaweed mercenaries to Libyan oil facilities, most recently in the port of Es Sidra.
The NOC demands their immediate removal from all facilities, he said, calling on the UN to send observers to monitor demilitarization in NOC’s areas of operations across the country.
There are currently a large number of foreign mercenaries at NOC facilities who do not share this desire, according to the statement.
On Sunday, the NOC accused the United Arab Emirates of instructing forces loyal to Haftar to disrupt the country’s oil production and exports.
Libya, with the largest oil reserves in Africa, can produce 1.2 million barrels of crude oil per day. However, production has dropped below 100,000 barrels per day due to disruptions by pro-Haftar fighters in the past six months.
.
