Brussels, 27/01/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 27 January, a diplomatic source told EUROPE that the European Union could soon decide to impose sanctions on three Libyans due to the fact that they are hampering the country's political process, which aims to set up a government of national accord.
“The 28 EU member states are due to agree, probably at the MAMA (Ed: Mashreq-Maghreb working group at the Council of the EU) on Monday (1 February) on several names for autonomous sanctions”, the source stated, saying that it was a question of Nouri Abusahmen, the leader of the Tripoli Parliament, who is not recognised by the international community, Khalifa al-Ghweil, the leader of the Tripoli government, and Aguila Saleh, the leader of the Tobruk Chamber of Representatives (in other words the parliament recognised by the international community).
On Monday 25 January, the Tobruk Parliament rejected the first version of the government of national accord, believing that the ministers - 32 in total - were too numerous. Several European sources have confirmed that discussions have been embarked upon in order to sanction the first two leaders, but they have not mentioned the third.
According to these two sources, there could be an agreement on the Tripoli representatives on 1 February. The decision on the leader of the Chamber of Representatives could come “a little later”, although a decision about this on Monday is not ruled out.
Two other diplomatic sources were more cautious when speaking to EUROPE, however, as regards the possibility of obtaining a consensus from the 28 EU member states on 1 February, as they said that the initial discussions at the MAMA on the issue had only just taken place on Tuesday 26 January. These sources said that this will also depend on how the situation in Libya develops. Another diplomatic source stated that two member states were quite sceptical as regards these restrictive measures, but the source did not name the two states.
While the sanctions, which would consist of an assets freeze and an EU visa ban, are the subject of an agreement in the working group, they will then still have to be approved by the national ambassadors to the EU (Coreper). The objective of the sanctions is to support the ongoing political process and to increase the pressure for a swift and favourable outcome. According to one source, the current blockage for sanctions at the United Nations Security Council could also push the EU to act alone. The EU has repeatedly threatened sanctions for people who hinder the political process in Libya. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)