The Algerian newspaper Al-Ayyam News conducted an interview with Nasr Salem, a professor of strategic sciences and former Major General of the Egyptian army, on the complexities of the Libyan scene and the security and sovereignty challenges it faces due to internal divisions and regional and international interventions.
The division between the eastern and western authorities since 2011 has confused the chain of command and weakened the security decision, which has provided opportunities for external powers, such as Turkey, to intervene, Salem said, noting that unifying the wings is a prerequisite for restoring sovereignty over all of Libya’s territory.
External support for opposing factions has entrenched the division, he said, stressing that the solution lies in a purely Libyan dialogue that establishes arrangements that end the duplication of arms and decisions and restore the unity of the military institution.
The influx of arms and foreign fighters keeps the fighting open and serves foreign agendas. It also creates a soft environment for the activity of cross-border organisations such as Boko Haram, which threatens the stability of the south and border areas.
Salem stressed that monitoring the long and rugged borders requires continuous funding and training, noting that technologies such as radars and drones are necessary but not sufficient, calling for practical co-ordination with neighbouring countries and joint deployment plans.
Smuggling networks benefit from the sale of oil outside official frameworks and the smuggling of weapons and humans, he said, stressing the need to hit supply chains and black markets, tighten financial oversight and criminalise middlemen to weaken the resources of armed groups.
Strategic corridors for external interferenceThere are many desert corridors that are exploited by external parties to support factions inside Libya, he said, noting that countering them requires air surveillance, mobile checkpoints and joint border units with tight intelligence linkages.
The political divide has led to conflicts of interest and fragmentation of security decisions, which has reduced operational and intelligence co-ordination and exacerbated security fragmentation instead of convergence, he said.
Salem stressed that any external role remains limited unless there is a Libyan political will, noting that ready-made prescriptions since 2011 have not proven effective, and that international support should be limited to the non-politicised technical aspect if an internal consensus is achieved.
The former Egyptian general believes that the elections may be an opportunity to bring the parties closer together if they are held on an agreed constitutional basis and with neutral professional supervision from inside Libya, warning that the absence of constitutional consensus will make them an additional factor of tension.