Inside Libya

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Conservative Middle East Council INSIDE LIBYA: CHAOS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN LIBYA TIMELINE 2011-17 2011 January/February The Arab spring spreads to Libya and violence breaks out between security forces and anti-Gaddafi rebels. 2011 March UN Security Council authorises a no-fly zone over Libya and NATO launch air strikes. 2011 August The main opposition group the National Transitional Council (NTC) announce a ‘Constitutional Declaration’ to form a General National Congress (GNC) after the fall of Gaddafi. 2011 October 20 Gaddafi is apprehended and killed in Sirte. 2012 August The NTC transfers power to the GNC which was elected in July. A schism emerges over the direction of the new state: the role of Islam in politics and the role of the ‘revolutionary’ militias. 2012 September The US Ambassador is killed in Benghazi after a wave of Islamist attacks. 2013 Islamists (Muslim Brotherhood and their allies) control the GNC and push through a law expelling Gaddafi-era officials from public life. Prime Minister Ali Zeidan is temporarily kidnapped. 2014 February Unrest and violence explodes after the GNC refuse to step-down after its mandate expires. In response, General Khalifa Haftar a former Gaddafi officer, who had returned to Libya in 2011, announces a failed coup on television. GNC concede to hold elections by the summer. 2014 May PM Zeidan is forced from office and is replaced by Minister of Defence Abdullah AlThinni. Despite failing in his coup, General Haftar launches a military campaign (Operation Dignity) in Benghazi against Islamists responsible for assassinating liberals and security personnel. 2014 June A new parliament, the House of Representatives (HoR) is elected to replace the GNC. Islamist factions are marginalised in the HoR. In response, militias aligned to the GNC launch Operation Libya Dawn to purge the capital of liberals and Haftar supporters. 2014 August The campaign is successful and Islamists seize control of Tripoli and western Libya. The HoR and the government of PM AlThinni are forced to relocate to the eastern city of Tobruk and AlBayda respectively. 8
Conservative Middle East Council INSIDE LIBYA: CHAOS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN 2014 September Back in the capital, the Islamists reconvene the GNC and appoint the Government of National Salvation under the premiership of Omar al Hassi. Libya’s political system is divided between two rival authorities in the east and west and the country descends into civil war. 2015 January The UN brokers peace talks between representatives of the GNC and HoR. 2015 February Islamic State extend their influence to the western city of Sirte. 2015 March HoR appoint Haftar leader of the Libyan National Army. 2015 December UN Libyan Political Agreement (LPA) is signed creating a Presidency Council, Government of National Accord (GNA) under the leadership of Faiez al-Serraj and High State Council. 2016 January The HoR refuses to endorse the GNA cabinet, primarily because a provision in the LPA would side-line General Haftar and place him under the control of the GNA. 2016 March The GNA arrives in Tripoli by boat from Tunisia despite the threat of arrest by Khalifa Ghwell, the Prime Minister of the Government of National Salvation. 2016 August The HoR vetoes the GNA cabinet for a second time. 2016 September Haftar captures the Gulf of Sirte’s ‘oil crescent’ from GNA aligned militias and is promoted to Field Marshal by HoR speaker Agilah Saleh. 2016 October Khalifa Ghwell of the Government of National Salvation attempts a coup against the GNA but fails due to a lack of support. 2016 November Haftar meets Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow for the second time since July to secure military support. Haftar claims that Russia will help to end the UN arms embargo. The GNA exerts little authority with the country facing an economic crisis with shortages in fuel, electricity, and medical supplies; a rise in food prices and the devaluation of the dinar. 9
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Inside Libya

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