The Libyan American Alliance (LAA) would like to express our support for all efforts to end the Libyan conflict through peaceful negotiation, including recent Turkish-Russian efforts. However, we warn our international partners that the self-proclaimed Libyan National Arab Army (LNAA) led by Khalifa Haftar and its backers are currently preparing for a second disastrous offensive on Tripoli and Misrata.
In order to prevent further escalation, we urge our international partners to exert more pressure and take concrete, enforceable steps to stop the flow of arms and military support provided to the LNAA by its regional backers. We call on the UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan to adhere to the ceasefire talks held in Moscow on January 13th and move forward to support Libya’s conference in Berlin next week.
Finally, as Libyan Americans, we reiterate our belief that a strong US role is essential to a sustainable political solution in Libya. We urge the US and its international allies to help mitigate the excessive militarization of the conflict in Libya by increasing diplomatic pressure on General Haftar and his militias until he stops his destabilizing and destructive actions.