Libya is split between two governments and two parliaments as battles continue to rage in Tripoli and Benghazi. UN envoy and head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) Bernardino Leon has continued in his attempts to broker a political solution. On Saturday he met with Arab League Secretary General Nabil Al-Arabi in Cairo. Leon said that Libya “needs a political settlement within weeks.” He added that the protracted conflict has become “totally unacceptable” and appealed to the international community to contribute to ending the Libyan crisis. Noting that the UN has been working together with the Arab League since the outset of this crisis, he underlined the need to seek a political settlement acceptable to all sides in Libya. Al-Ahram Weekly has learned from informed sources that Leon, in his talks with Al-Arabi, focused on two essential points. The first was the need for members of the Arab League to formulate a unified official Arab position on the Libyan crisis. The second was to urge Arab governments to use their strong relations with some of the parties to the crisis to persuade them to accept a political solution as the only way to rescue Libya from disaster. According to the sources, Leon outlined the results of his consultations with Libyan parties and stressed that some of these parties, which the sources did not name, “lacked confidence” in certain Arab regimes. Following the meeting, Leon said that he sought a political agreement that would lead to a solution to the Libyan crisis rather than merely “a dialogue for the sake of holding a dialogue” between the factions. On another peace-seeking initiative, the fate of the Algerian dialogue remains murky. Although the talks received international and regional support, including Libyan parties from both sides of the conflict, the dialogue did not take place in the second half of October, as scheduled. Informed Libyan sources told the Weekly that the Algerian-sponsored dialogue may move to Malta. This appears to be at the request of Algiers, which seeks a comprehensive dialogue that includes all parties to the conflict, while Libyan factions differ sharply over who should and should not attend. The sources said that parties affiliated with the parliament convening in Tobruk oppose the participation of representatives of the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries (SCBR), an umbrella organisation of various Islamist groups. Of these, Ansar Al-Sharia, a group that the US has declared a terrorist organisation, is most objected to. The SCBR rejects any representatives of retired General Khalifa Haftar, who had previously expressed his personal desire to take part in the Algerian-sponsored dialogue. Neither side has made its position clear on the possible participation in the dialogue of officials or prominent figures affiliated with the former Gaddafi regime. Some sources have indicated that General Ali Kana, a high-ranking security official in that regime, would be among the key participants. While the future of the Algerian initiative remains pending, it appears that the third round of the Ghadames dialogue will begin soon. Referred to as the 12+12 talks, as it brings together 12 MPs from the parliament convening in Tobruk and 12 MPs who are boycotting the parliamentary sessions there, the initiative was begun in September. Meanwhile, Libyan Speaker of Parliament Aqeela Saleh held a round of talks in Algeria with his Algerian counterpart, Speaker of the National People's Assembly Walad Khalife, and Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal. Meanwhile, armed forces allied with Operation Dignity led by retired General Haftar and the militias rallied behind SCBR continue to clash in Benghazi. Although it has been reported that Haftar's forces have entered parts of the city with the assistance of some local inhabitants, it remains unclear how much they have advanced. SCBR forces maintain that they still control their strongholds, which they had seized from Special Forces, remnants of the official army in Libya. In recent weeks, increasing numbers of families with kinship links to Misrata in western Libya have begun to leave Benghazi for fear of retaliation from Haftar's forces because of their support for SCBR forces. According to Misrata sources, more than 1,000 families have left Benghazi since the fighting worsened. At least 300 people from both sides are believed to have died. The sources also report that the homes of families of senior SCBR leaders in Benghazi have been targeted. The residences of Wisam Bin Hamid, commander of a Libya Shield 1 formation, and Mohammed (Bouka) Al-Arabi, commander of Libya Shield 2 in Benghazi, have been vandalised and burned. Reports of other incidents of revenge violence allegedly supported by Haftar's forces have increased fear among Misrata families in Benghazi. An entire family was reported killed in broad daylight in front of their neighbours by youths said to belong to a pro-Haftar “awakening council”. The “awakening council”, which had its origins in Iraq, is an instrument for mobilising residents to stage uprisings behind enemy lines, in this case SCBR forces in Benghazi. In western Libya, militias allied with the Misrata-led Libya Dawn operation and Zintan are locked in fierce battles for control of the capital. According to sources from Kikla, about 150 kilometres southwest of Tripoli, violent skirmishes have been raging since the last week of October. More than 153 people, most of whom were civilians, have died. Amnesty International has issued a harsh condemnation of all Libyan militias, accusing them of perpetrating war crimes. In the capital, the Tripoli Criminal Court of Appeals postponed the hearing of the case of former regime figures charged with murder and incitement until 16 November. All members of the court and the public prosecution were present when the hearing convened Sunday, but many defence lawyers were absent. The presiding judge opened the session by calling out the names of the defendants and a number of witnesses for the prosecution and the defence to establish their presence in the courtroom. Some of the witnesses were called up and asked questions to ascertain that they had no relationship or acquaintance with the defendant. The court then gave the public prosecution and defence lawyers the opportunity to ask the witnesses questions pertaining to the case. After a short recess, during which the presiding judge withdrew into a closed session to consult with other members of the court, it was announced that the trial of the defendants from the former regime would be deferred for two weeks. The court also handed down fines to several lawyers for their failure to appear at last Sunday's session. That session marked the second time that Seif Al-Islam Al-Gaddafi, who is being held in Zintan, was unable to appear in this case. Sources in the Libyan Public Prosecutor's Office said that technical reasons prevented a closed circuit linkup with the courthouse in Zintan, the mountain city whose militias are currently engaged in fierce fighting with militias of its former revolutionary ally, the coastal city of Misrata, over control of the capital.
