What to do about Libya? No military solutions, no division of the country. Gentiloni explains where the Italian negotiations are heading<\/p>\n
by Paola Peduzzi<\/p>\n
Milan. The negotiations in Libya are moving, some results are being achieved \u201cfor the first time\u201d, and \u201cthe reawakened glimmer of hope in the talks overseen by the United Nations is multiplying the efforts of those seeking to interrupt or cancel out any political or diplomatic action in the country\u201d. Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni explains the UN\u2019s strategy \u2013 with a crucial role for Italy, given that \u201cLibya is, essentially, a neighbouring country for us\u201d \u2013 to Il Foglio. A strategy designed to lead the country towards a constitution, with first of all \u201ca government of technocrats and \u2018wise men\u2019\u201d, says Gentiloni. \u201cThat\u2019s the priority for Bernardino Le\u00f3n, the UN Special Envoy in Libya, [with whom the Minister is on first-name terms and is in constant contact: \u201cI spoke to him just an hour ago\u201d, he says]. And then, \u201cin 2 or 3 months\u201d, the rebuilding of the country\u2019s institutions.<\/p>\n
Talk of a constituent assembly seems bold, after last week\u2019s attack on the Corinthia Hotel, a symbol of a Tripoli that would love to feel like a normal city, and the 3\/4 February attack on the al-Mabrook oilfield run by Libya\u2019s National Oil Corporation and the French Total, plus the daily attacks that do not even reach the international media. The minister does not hide his concern: \u201cWe need to prevent the attacks from acting as an obstacle to the negotiating process\u201d. We must not stop, in short, because the terrorists certainly won\u2019t (and in our head the words of General Petraeus in Iraq ring clear: \u201cThings will get worse before they get better\u201d. It was true).<\/p>\n
According to the American intelligence services \u2013 the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Vincent Stewart, spoke about this on Monday 2 February to the Armed Services Committee in Congress \u2013 the Islamic State presence in Iraq is growing. Its control now extends not just to Derna, which has been a hub for the organisation for some time, but also to Sirte and many areas near Tripoli.<\/p>\n
And yet the threat seems, once again, to have been underestimated. Many in Washington, and some Libyan diplomats, are complaining about America\u2019s absence. They are saying that after the deadly attack in Benghazi, Libya has become a taboo subject. Is it true that Obama has turned his back on the situation? \u201cWe\u2019re speaking to the Americans all the time\u201d, says Gentiloni, \u201cand they\u2019re very involved. Of course it\u2019s true that they want to see the Mediterranean countries, and Italy in particular, take responsibility, for clear geographical and strategic reasons\u201d.<\/p>\n
Europe needs to do more, in short: Italy, with France and Spain, is in charge. \u201cThe French are also worried about the terrorist threat in the south, towards Mali, where Paris\u2019s interests are concentrated\u201d. But there are no alternatives to the road map decided in Geneva \u2013 to which Italy provided crucial support, \u201cnot just political but logistical too, by using our planes to transport the delegations. The North African states have taken on board that military solutions, or the idea of a territorial division of Libya, are not practicable\u201d.<\/p>\n
The UN negotiations, therefore. \u201cIn Geneva the participants were the Tobruk government that emerged from the elections, the Islamic groups from Misurata and a number of tribal communities: Tripoli didn\u2019t sign up. But news has just come through that the National Congress there might take part, as early as Monday or Tuesday next week, in a new round of talks to create a representative technical government\u201d. Once the process is under way, continues Gentiloni \u2013 \u201cbut saying this is taking a bold leap of faith\u201d, he adds with a touch of humour in a phone call where the mood is one of concern \u2013 \u201cthe Italian government would be ready to propose a UN mission to parliament, to support stabilisation\u201d.<\/p>\n
If the peacekeepers arrive, Italy will be in the front line. But before that we need peace, which today, with the best intentions, is nowhere in sight. Not least because an important strategic contradiction still persists: the Islamic State is growing stronger through its power in winning territory, but we, who want to stop this advance, never touch that territory. \u201cThe expansion of the Da\u2019esh has stopped and has perhaps even been pushed back\u201d, says Gentiloni, however. \u201cIndeed, their obscene propaganda over the last few days, with the Jordanian pilot burnt to death and the horrors we witnessed previously, don’t coincide at all with a period of expansion for the organisation\u201d. So, is it because they\u2019re losing that the Da\u2019esh want to see us terrified and horrified? No, they\u2019re not losing, but \u201cthey\u2019re not advancing \u2013 thanks to the Kurds, the Iraqis, the coalition strikes and the commitment of countries like our own\u201d.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s early to say, and anyway nobody will talk of \u201cmission accomplished\u201d again for centuries to come, and \u201cthe Da\u2019esh may well retreat on the ground, but grow more dangerous in their international reach\u201d. But when we see a turning point in the war, \u201cit will start with humanitarian aid and the people of the United Nations\u201d. And Italy will continue to be a part of that.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What to do about Libya? No military solutions, no division of the country. Gentiloni explains where the Italian negotiations are heading by Paola Peduzzi Milan. The negotiations in Libya are moving, some results are being achieved \u201cfor the first time\u201d, and \u201cthe reawakened glimmer of hope in the talks overseen by the United Nations is […]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[6,76,404],"class_list":["post-23653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviste","tag-mediterraneo-e-medio-oriente","tag-ministri-precedenti","tag-sicurezza"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23653\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}