Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/699546
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 3 JULY 2016 News 11 MIRIAM DALLI FAYEZ Serraj, Libya's United Nations-backed prime minis- ter, needs international help to impose order in his country, but until there is a clear resolu- tion of the United Nations Se- curity Council or a specific call from the Libyan government, no country will send troops on the ground. Speaking to MaltaToday on the present situation in Lib- ya, Foreign Affairs Minister George Vella also argued that not much progress has been registered in Libya, in a time- frame where more should have been delivered. "The level of progress one was anticipating under Serraj has not been met. We still hope he will move forward but, as yet, the Libyan government has left much to be desired… we are not seeing the effects of [Ser- raj's] policies," Vella said. He conceded that Serraj had however managed to acquire the allegiance of a number of important militias. Serraj leads the Government of National Accord, which has pledged to defeat the Islamic State presence in the North African country. But for the GNA to do so, there needs to be a unified army. According to the Libya Herald, Serraj said IS could only be de- feated if the unified army is made up of military forces from all over the country. Even today, Serraj – whose gov- ernment operates from the Abu Sittah navy base – fails to enjoy complete control over Tripoli. The rival Government of National Salvation headed by Prime Minis- ter Khalifa Ghwell is also based in Tripoli. A 'third' power in Libya is Gen- eral Khalifa Haftar, commander of Libya's armed forces who are loyal to the Tobruk-based House of Representatives. The Libya Herald reports that Haftar's position has been a key sticking point between Tripoli and Tobruk: "Parliament wants Haftar to stay. The west, particularly the Misratans, want him out". Reports have now emerged that Haftar held talks with Russia's Se- curity Council secretary Nikolai Patrushev and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, including weapons deliveries. Sputniknews.com reported that it was the Russian ambassador to Libya who confirmed Haftar's presence in Moscow and the na- ture of discussions. "Haftar is the elephant in the room," Vella told MaltaToday, arguing that no one had a clear vi- sion of his intentions. "The image surrounding him is one of division but enigmatic at the same time". While arguing that it was unclear who was behind Haftar, Vella said many were left surprised when US secretary of state John Kerry told a meeting of diplomats in Vienna that Haftar was an important part of the equation. "Haftar had been mentioned by two or three countries during this meeting and Kerry said that we had all 'agreed' that he had a role to play, with Serraj, for the future of Libya." Haftar, a former Gaddafi ally, devoted "two decades" to toppling the former Libyan dictator and re- turned to Libya in 2011, during the uprising. Vella, who believes that weapons are being trafficked by land corri- dors, questioned Haftar's presence in Moscow; at the same time he also questioned what would Haftar do with the weapons. "There are fears that he could launch a military attack to take over Libya… but no one knows. However, I don't think Russia would accede to his request when there has been a decision by the Security Council." The Security Council unani- mously authorised a crackdown on arms smuggling in the high seas off Libya by allowing the inspection of vessels to seize and dispose of illicit weapons. The minister went on to add that no one knew what Haf- tar's moves were: was he wait- ing around until the conflicting forces kill themselves out and then move in to take over Misu- rata and Tripoli? "It's all legiti- mate speculation," he added. Meanwhile, the European Union is seeking a mandate from the UN Security Council to crack down on illegal arms shipments off Libyan shores. Led by the EU's top foreign policy chief Federica Mogher- ini, an appeal was made to the Security Council "to enforce the UN arms embargo on the high seas, off the coast of Libya". The arms that cross the Medi- terranean often end up in the hands of militias beyond the prime minister's control that rule eastern Libya, according to the United Na- tions. Martin Kobler, the United Na- tions mediator for Libya, has ar- gued that the number of weapons floating around in Libya was more than three times its population of six million. "These weapons do not fall from the sky, but come in increasingly through illegal ship- ments by sea and by land," accord- ing to Kobler. "These shipments must end if there is to be any se- rious hope of bringing peace to Libya." UN-backed Libyan government 'leaves much to be desired', Vella warns Malta-Russia stamp issue attracts Commonwealth's attention for wrong reason MIRIAM DALLI MALTA has for the wrong reason recently made it to the 'Commonwealth stamps opin- ion' blogspot, which focusses entirely on the collection of stamps around the Common- wealth countries and where views and opinions are shared. Around two months ago, in May, MaltaPost and Russian Post marked the countries' long-standing relations by the release of a philatelic joint stamp issue. In search of com- mon ties between Malta and Russia, Russian Post decided to go for two paintings by Rus- sian artist Nicholas Krasnoff, who fled to Malta in 1919 and lived here until 1922 – in De- cember that year, the Soviet Union came into being. But while the Maltese paint- ing depicts the view from Vit- toriosa Gate, the other stamp shows the Dulber Palace in Crimea. "MaltaPost and Russian Post will mark their respective countries' long-standing rela- tions by the release of a phila- telic joint stamp issue," Malta- Post had said in May. "The common theme cho- sen for this stamp issue re- lates to two paintings by Rus- sian artist Nicholas Krassnoff and portrays the view of the Birgu waterfront for the Malta stamp and the Dulber Palace in Crimea for the Russian stamp." So justifiably, the Common- wealth stamps expert raised eyebrows at the choice of the palace in Crimea, a Ukrain- ian territory that was annexed by the Russian Federation in 2014. In early 2014 Crimea be- came the focus of the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War, after Ukraine's pro-Mos- cow president Viktor Yanuko- vych was driven from power by violent protests in Kiev. Kremlin-backed forces seized control of the Crimean penin- sula, and the territory, which has a Russian-speaking major- ity, voted to join Russia in a referendum that Ukraine and the West deem illegal. "Is there a significance to the choice of a Crimean scene be- ing featured on the stamp? Is there more to a simple depic- tion of a rather indifferent painting on a stamp than the desire to commemorate the visit to an island which once saw Caravaggio living there?" the blog reads. "Has Malta Post been duped into a form of recognising Crimea as part of Russia by issuing this stamp? Is this a clever move by the Russian au- thorities in persuading a mem- ber of the European Union to allow this image to appear on one of its postage stamps?" UN-backed Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Serraj (left) shaking hands with Khalifa Haftar