U.S. Penalizes Libyan Politician in Effort to Bolster Unity Government

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/20/world/middleeast/us-libya-sanctions-unity-government.html

Version 0 of 1.

CAIRO — The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on a prominent Libyan politician as part of a broader Western effort to force Libya’s warring factions to accept the authority of a unity government backed by the United Nations.

The Treasury Department said it was adding the politician, Khalifa al-Ghweil, the leader of a self-declared government in the capital, Tripoli, to its sanctions list and would freeze any assets he might have in the United States.

The sanctions are a boost to the new unity government, which was formed under the auspices of the United Nations in December, has strong support from Western countries that are desperate to end years of turmoil in Libya. It also enjoys the allegiance of Libya’s national oil company, the central bank and some of the militias that guard the country’s oil fields.

Its arrival leaves Libya in the unusual position of having three rival governments — two in Tripoli, and one in the east — and the unity administration has struggled to impose its authority since its leaders landed in Tripoli three weeks ago. Now other Libyan officials who, like Mr. Ghweil, oppose it, could face similar penalties.

An executive order signed by President Obama on Tuesday empowered American officials to take action against any Libyan deemed to have threatened the peace, obstructed the unity government or illegally exploited the country’s oil resources.

Western countries hope that the new government, led by Prime Minister Fayez Serraj, can become a unifying force that will help combat the Islamic State, which now controls a 150-mile stretch of coastline, and stop the boats of migrants that are using Libya as a launching point to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.

“Our goal with sanctions on spoilers is to secure strongest possible unity government in Libya,” said Jonathan Winer, the United States special envoy for Libya, on Twitter. “The country needs unity, not infighting.”

Special Operations forces units from the United States, Britain and France have been sighted in various parts of Libya in recent months. They are ostensibly there to prepare for a possible military drive against the Islamic State. For now, the West is trying to create a political anchor for any action.

Mr. Serraj landed in Tripoli by boat on March 30 in a bid to set up his new administration. But he has been prevented from occupying critical ministries in the capital because of opposition from Mr. Ghweil, whose administration is backed by a number of Islamist militias and groups from the nearby city of Misurata.

In an indication of the tense security situation, a gunfight between rival factions erupted on the streets of Tripoli last week just hours after a visit by three Western ambassadors to the city.

Western diplomats fled Tripoli in 2014 during the broader turmoil that followed the ouster of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in 2011 and which spawned a multi-faceted conflict with a bewildering array of competing factions and governments.

“If only it were so simple as there being two sides,” the British foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, told the British Parliament on Tuesday, one day after he visited Tripoli in a show of support for the unity government. “There are about 120 sides.”

The American sanctions against Mr. Ghweil complemented similar penalties imposed by the European Union on April 1.

But even beyond Tripoli, the unity government faces several stiff hurdles in eastern Libya, where it has uncertain support. The country’s internationally recognized parliament, based in the eastern town of Tobruk, failed to take a vote on Monday that was meant to recognize the unity government, amid scenes of tumultuous discord among lawmakers.

There is also uncertainty about the position of Gen. Khalifa Hifter, a strongman who dominates the east and whose forces have pushed through Benghazi in recent days.

General Hifter now controls most of the city except for a pocket held by the Islamic State and a few outlying districts.