Head of Libya’s Supreme Council of State (SCS) Abdulrahman Sewehli has blamed foreign countries for interfering in Libyan internal affairs.
“Our problem in Libya is with foreign interference. We pointed out that issue in all our meetings with foreign representatives,” he told the New Arab in an interview.
“Today’s problem in Libya is that foreign interference brings very negative consequences. Many countries and regional powers support different parties inside Libya which is then prevented from finding a political solution.”
The SCS is an advisory body to UN-backed Presidency Council (PC) and the Government of National Accord (GNA) birthed in Morocco, in December 2015.
Sewehli stopped short to name the countries he alluded to saying that the international community knows them.
Libya descended into chaos since the fall of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 in a NATO-backed revolution. The country has been awash with factions vying for power. UN efforts to reunite parties have been stumbling. The GNA and the PC have been unable to assert their power.
A rival government in the east has been opposing the GNA’s authority.
International powers have been also wrestling for influence in the oil rich North African country. Russia and the west have been supporting opposing sides in the political crisis.
Moscow has lent support to the eastern government and its affiliated military commander Khalifa Haftar. The former Gaddafi ally has become Russia’s main mouth-piece in the crisis.
Despite Moscow’s growing influence, the SCS President argued that Russia supports no side.
“They didn’t take a position for Haftar, they [want to] work with all parties involved in the Libyan crisis in order to find a real national accord,” he said.
Sewehli’s comments contradict PC leader Faiez Serraj’s. The nominal Prime Minister early this month urged Moscow to play a role in ending political deadlock and arranging a meeting between him and Haftar.
