Twenty nations, including the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, have signed a communique signaling their decision, according to the Associated Press who obtained a copy of the document prior to its official release.
The United Nations imposed an arms embargo on Libya in 2011 in an effort to keep weapons out of the hands of the many groups and militias vying for power in the country after the fall of Gadhafi.
In the statement agreed on today, world powers agreed to push for exemptions to the embargo and the nations confirmed they are “ready to respond to the Libyan government’s requests for training and equipping.”
The statement is the result of meetings in Vienna on Monday between Libya’s UN-backed unity government and twenty Western and regional nations.
The ability of Libya’s feeble unity government to restore the rule of law and rout ISIS is up for debate.
“The decisive question is whether Libya, directly on Europe’s southern border, remains a place where terrorism, the crime of human trafficking, and instability keep spreading or whether we and the GNA [Government of National Accord] will be able to restore stability and the rule of law,” said Germany’s foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier as he arrived at Monday’s talks in Vienna.
“This is an open question at the moment.”
The Government of National Accord (GNA) was recently formed with the intention it will replace two rival administrations, in Tripoli and Tobruk, which have been clashing for more than one year but it has yet to pass the first hurdle of being accepted by both of the administrations it is to replace. The Tobruk administration has yet to accept the GNA while those in Tripoli have signaled they would support it.
The two administrations have fought for power and control of the nation’s oil.
Despite the lack of unity within the unity government, Western nations still believe the GNA is the best option for stability in Libya.
A senior US official attending the talks said he hoped the international community would show strong support for the GNA, which in turn would commit to improving Libya’s security. “We want to see a coordinated national effort against Daesh [ISIS] and we want to see it secure its land and maritime borders.”
The US has already ruled out sending combat troops into Libya though the Washington Post reported that special operations personnel have been in Libya since late 2015 working with local partners in anticipation of ISIS expansion in the region. This claim has been denied by a GNA spokesperson.
The UK has recently stated they would consider any requests from Libya for maritime and naval support.
The United Nations, warned in December 2015, that ISIS was strengthening its foothold in Libya. Many fighters, including ISIS leadership, are believed to have relocated from Iraq and Syria to Libya following the coalition air campaign against the terrorist group.
