‘Do your revolution alone’ – UN envoy Kobler blames international community for withdrawing from Libya 

“During the revolution there was hope,” UN special envoy to Libya Martin Kobler told DW host Michel Friedman on “Conflict Zone.” He acknowledged that “it was the mistake of the international community then to have withdrawn and to have said ‘You do your revolution alone.’”

He said he “would not categorize [Libya] as a failed state.” The country did not bear comparison with Syria because it had not slid into “total chaos.”

“Yes, there are rival governments and there is criminality and the country does not have a central authority as in other states,” Kobler said. “The conflict so far is contained. But I do not want to belittle the problems. That’s why we are there and working for the better.”

The UN envoy said the Libyan government and institutions “lack legitimacy.” He explained that the UN kept supporting the government because there were no alternatives. Kobler: “We negotiated a peace agreement. After 42 years of Gadhafi dictatorship, after the revolution, after the civil war you have to start with the first step.”

Kobler said that Libya was “a fragmented state” and that under Gadhafi “there were never strong institutions.” The envoy said that building up strong institutions and driving the militias out of Libya would take time but refused to specify a date.

On human trafficking in Libya Kobler said it “is one of the most serious and appalling problems of the country. This is a big human tragedy and the solution is to work for the implementation of the agreement and to have unified security structures and the restitution of state authority.”

The envoy also commented on a Human Rights Watch report about 500,000 internally displaced people in Libya: “It did not happen under our supervision because we are the United Nations with a separate mandate. We do not have an executive mandate in the country. The international community has decided not to have an executive mandate.” Kobler said the UN were “improving the situation in the detention centers.” Kobler admitted to feeling “very frustrated” about the situation.

“It is up to the Libyans to organize their state. It’s the Libyan sovereignty,” Kobler said, vowing to return to Libya: “Our role is to organize the process to enable the Libyans to establish their security structure. Preparations have been made and you will see in the next months that we are going back.”

Renowned journalists Tim Sebastian and Michel Friedman take turns in presenting DW's top political talk show "Conflict Zone" with international decision-makers.