<\/p>\n
Gaddafi ruled Libya for more than four decades before being overthrown during the 2011 Arab Spring uprising and killed by rebel forces in Sirte on October 20.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Afro-Middle East Centre Executive Director Na\u2019eem Jeenah said the country\u2019s security and governance structures remained fragmented. \u201cYou have more than one government, at least two governments, and scores of militias,\u201d Jeenah said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cEven in the capital, Tripoli, different parts of the city are controlled by different militias.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Jeenah said Libya had struggled to establish unified government because Gaddafi\u2019s removal dismantled a repressive state without producing an agreed political transition.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Gaddafi had deliberately weakened the military to prevent competing centres of power while using state institutions to suppress political opposition.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Following Gaddafi\u2019s removal, armed groups, regional factions and political movements competed to fill the resulting power vacuum. \u201cThere is little trust between different political actors and different militias,\u201d Jeenah said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Foreign intervention had further prolonged instability, with countries supporting competing governments and armed groups.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation members participated in the 2011 military intervention, while T\u00fcrkiye, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE subsequently backed different Libyan factions.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Russia also deployed Wagner Group fighters in support of forces aligned with eastern-based Military Commander Khalifa Haftar.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Jeenah said foreign governments had sometimes changed alliances, making negotiations and political reconciliation more difficult.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The looting of Libyan weapons depots following the uprising also allowed arms to spread across the Sahel, contributing to insecurity beyond Libya\u2019s borders.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Libya\u2019s experience demonstrated the risks of removing a long-serving leader without an inclusive and credible transition plan, Jeenah said. \u201cThere must be a plan in which different actors are able to work together to effect that political transition,\u201d Jeenah said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Rebuilding Libya would require foreign powers to stop supporting armed groups, militias to participate in a political settlement and national institutions to be restored. \u201cThe first thing is the removal of foreign support for armed militias,\u201d Jeenah said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cForeign assistance towards negotiations and a democratic process could be useful, but throwing weapons and fighters into the country is helping to destabilise Libya.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":48797,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-48795","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Libya remains deeply divided 15 years after Muammar Gaddafi\u2019s killing, with rival governments, armed groups and foreign powers continuing to compete for influence and territory.","published_date":"","news_description":"Libya remains deeply divided 15 years after Muammar Gaddafi\u2019s killing, with rival governments, armed groups and foreign powers continuing to compete for influence and territory.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/48795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/48795\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48799,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/48795\/revisions\/48799"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=48795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}