The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (Manul) on Thursday, August 26 welcomed the cooperation between two rival armed forces, from the West and the East of the country, in order to secure the water network, a frequent target sabotage and threats.
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In a statement, Manul welcomed the creation of a joint force "
from both sides of the demarcation lines to secure the Great Artificial River
", a pharaonic project carried out under the regime of Muammar Gaddafi to irrigate a large part from Libya.
Often the target of attacks
Libya's water network is often the target of attacks, illegal connections and shutdowns at gunpoint.
In mid-August, the Great Man-made River Authority cut off supplies to the west and southwest of the country for ten days when gunmen threatened to sabotage the network if Abdallah al-Senoussi, ex -Head of Gaddafi's intelligence services, detained in a prison in Tripoli, was not released.
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On Thursday, Manul chief Jan Kubis expressed hope that the creation of a joint force between rival forces in Libya will "
pave the way for further confidence-building measures
" between the two sides as part of the of the “
reunification of institutions
”.
Libya is trying to extricate itself from a decade of bloody violence since the fall of the Gaddafi regime in 2011, a chaos marked in recent years by the existence of rival powers in the East and the West. After the end of the fighting in the summer of 2020 and the signing of a ceasefire in October, a transitional government was formed at the beginning of the year to unify the institutions and lead the country to legislative and presidential elections planned. in December.
