Interview : Anas El Gomati comments on the political situation in Libya, peacebuilding in Syria and Iraq
Anas El Gomati is the Founder and Director of the Sadeq Institute, Libya’s first think tank and research center. In this short interview, El Gomati reviews the current political situation in Libya, looks at the pre-requisites for Syria and Iraq to establish lasting peace and comments on US diplomacy under President Donald Trump.
“After four years of very intense and toxic civil war, there was a political dialogue that was held here in Skhirat, and then in Algiers, that unfortunately did not yield the kind of stable results that were needed in Libya.” (…) The next steps are the elections that will be held with the help of the new UN special Envoy to Libya Ghassan Salamé, explains the researcher, baring in mind that the situation is very critical given the presence of Daesh in Libya over these last years.
Regarding peacebuilding in the Middle East, Anas El Gomati stresses that “the most important thing when looking at countries like Syria, Iraq and Libya, if there’s anything that can bind these countries together is that ‘there are those that have’ and ‘have not’. Those people that have had traditionally patronage and control of the security and political apparatus, and those that have not, and want to take that kind of power. Shifting power from one elite, from one sect to another, from one tribe to another tribe, is not the kind of solutions that will give an enduring and resilient peace. (…) The international community must look for equitable solutions (…) you need to have pluralistic solutions, (…) find ways in which these groups can share power”.
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