.gif)
By Sami Zaptia.
London, 13 July 2020:
UNSMIL reported yesterday that it had held a virtual meeting on Saturday (11 July) with the Interior Ministry of Libya’s internationally recognized government in Tripoli on Security Sector Reform (SSR) and Disarmament Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR). The meeting included UNSMIL Acting head Stephanie Williams and Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha.
UNSMIL reported that the two sides ‘‘agreed on resuming the activities of the support programmes and projects – that were impacted following the outbreak of hostilities in April 2019 – and underlined the linkage between SSR and economic reforms’’.
It also reported that Acting SRSG Williams ‘‘expressed the Mission’s readiness to provide all necessary support to the Libyan authorities and stressed the importance of coordinating efforts at the national and international levels in order to achieve successful SSR and DDR in Libya’’.
SSR and DDR are one of the fundamental tenants of the 2015 Skhirat Libyan Political Agreement that has led to Libya’s current Presidency Council and so-called Government of National Accord. However, the government in Tripoli has failed miserably in DDR-ing militias in western Libya, in creating a unified police and army and achieving a monopoly on the legitimate use of force.
Coincidently, or not, the meeting comes on the back of UNSMIL’s condemnation on Saturday of clashes between militias officially recognized by the Faiez Serraj-led internationally recognized government in the Tripoli suburb of Janzur. These militias had been fighting side-by-side only weeks earlier against the Khalifa Hafter forces on the south Tripoli battlefronts.
In its condemnation statement, UNSMIL had said that ‘‘the clashes underscore the need for the GNA (Tripoli Libyan government) to move swiftly on effective and coordinated Security Sector Reform and Disarmament Demobilization and Reintegration efforts’’.
Neither the Faiez Serraj government nor its Interior Ministry, led by Fathi Bashagha, have made a comment on the fatal clashes.
