By Salem Ali.
Tripoli, 16 January 2014.
The European Parliament has called on the European Commission to impose sanctions on Libyans pushing for a boycott of the . . .[restrict]UN-sponsored negotiations in Geneva.
The move would hit a number of militias from the Tripoli area as well as individual members of the rump General National Congress, such as prominent Misrati political figure Abdurrahman Sewehli. He is strongly opposed to the dialogue.
The Europeans have also insisted that the House of Representatives (HoR) is the only legitimate legislative body in Libya. Its “legitimacy and the will of the Libya people”, it said in a lengthy 2,900-word statement, had been “thwarted by political division and violence in what is becoming an all-out civil war”.
Nonetheless, following a debate on Libya yesterday, the EU parliament also said the HoR had to act in a spirit of inclusiveness towards Libyans. Both sides in the current dispute, it also claimed, had committed “a wide range of violations and abuses”, adding also that the indiscriminate shelling of civilians in Libya could well lead to those responsible being prosecuted for war crimes.
The general tone of the parliament statement, however, was pro-HoR and anti-militant and anti-Libya Dawn.
Welcoming the political dialogue in Geneva but claiming that Daesh was training fighters in Libya, it strongly condemned the sharp escalation of violence in Libya and called on all sides involved in the violence to commit to an unconditional ceasefire.
Specifically, the EU had to support the “tireless efforts of the United Nations Special Representative for Libya, Bernardino Leon” by “immediately enacting its own targeted sanctions, including asset freezes and travel bans” on those “responsible for armed violence and human rights violations and abuses, and for boycotting the UN sponsored negotiations”.
Libya and the region risked “ending in destructive chaos along the lines of what was happening in Syria and Iraq”, the EU parliament said.
Additionally, it called on neighbouring countries and regional players, “especially Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the UAE” to refrain from actions that could exacerbate current divisions and thereby undermine Libya’s democratic transition.
The European Union likewise had to help the Libyan people fulfil their ambition to establish a democratic, stable and prosperous state. Ensuring the neutrality of key Libyan institutions, notably the Central Bank, the National Oil Corporation and the sovereign wealth fund was necessary, the parliament added.
It also challenged international companies to ensure that any transactions did not finance, directly or indirectly the warring militias. It also added international companies involved in Libya to reveal their financial activities in the energy sector.
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