In an interview with Correspondents, British Ambassador to Libya Michael Aron did not rule out sanctions against warring factions in Libya. He added that Great Britain does not recognize the current government led by Omar al-Hassi making it therefore impossible for Britain to re-open its embassy in Tripoli, which has been closed since August 4, 2014.

In an interview with Correspondents, British Ambassador to Libya Michael Aron did not rule out sanctions against warring factions in Libya. He added that Great Britain does not recognize the current government led by Omar al-Hassi making it therefore impossible for Britain to re-open its embassy in Tripoli, which has been closed since August 4, 2014.

Ambassador Aron, the British Foreign Ministry said it would not hesitate to impose sanctions against those who undermine peace in Libya. And although it submitted draft 2174 resolution on Libya, it hasn’t yet taken any action.  How do you explain that?

The issue of sanctions is not easy, and their application against any person requires a legitimate decision, evidence and arguments proving culpability. The fulfillment of these conditions takes time.

Moreover, we believe that threating sanctions is sometimes more effective than sanctions themselves. In some cases, persons targeted by sanctions do not intend to travel outside the country and do not have bank accounts inside or outside Libya.  These individuals will not be adversely affected by the imposition of sanctions against them. The whole issue is more of a symbolic nature.

In the Special Envoys for Libya meeting (from the African Union, the Arab League, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Malta, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States – the editor), which convened in Paris on October 30, 2014, with the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General (UNSRSG), Bernardino León, we talked a lot about the subject of sanctions and the best means to apply the 2174 resolution in order to reach the best possible results.

Did you reach a list of those targeted by sanctions?

Certain names were discussed, but until now there is no official list. It was also agreed that Bernardino Leon will talk to them before the publishing of the list and he will try to convince them of changing their attitudes, otherwise sanctions will be applied to them.

In a piece of news published by the al-Wasat electronic gate, there was a leak about the closed meeting of the Security Council in New York to listen to Mr. Leon. Sources of this news predicted the issuance of a list with three to four names upon whom the sanctions will be applied. Do you confirm or deny these leaks?  

There was no specific decision at the convoys’ meeting which I attended in Paris, but there were discussions of the names of some well-known personalities. I did not yet see the results of the New York session, but I can say that around five or six names were discussed and not just four.

The idea is that there will be an initial list containing the names of persons heavily involved in the undermining of civil peace to serve as a message to others, who may wish to avoid having their names listed in the sanction’s lists, that they should change their behavior.

Does the list of names contain persons from all parties or does it contain names from only one certain party?

The list contains names from all parties, but they are not from one city or one side.  As you know, the problem in Libya is that things are not clear and nothing is black and white, terrorists and democrats and Islamists and Liberals. The situation is completely different. There is no one bad and one good side and every side is committing violations and on each side there are moderates who are working for dialogue, peace and progress.

 Why did you leave Libya? Did your mission receive direct threats?

I personally wanted to stay in Libya. However, the event that took place on July 27, 2014, when the embassy’s motorcade was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades in the al-Maya area close to Camp 27 west of Tripoli, made me leave.

I personally do not believe that the shooting was from inside the camp, but rather from the Warshafana area, and it was not a terrorist attack. The reason behind it was to steal the cars or for some other reason. However, when London saw the pictures of the cars after the attack, the incident was considered as a dangerous indicator, which should not be underestimated.

After this incident, one of the embassy’s houses, located on the frontline of clashes in Janzur, west of Tripoli, was occupied by some armed men who fired their guns when members of the embassy staff were still inside. However, none of them was injured.

On the same day, and during the fighting in the al-Sarraj area, one of the residency houses of the embassy was hit by bullets because of the clashes in the surrounding area and my house was also hit in the clashes, but I was not present when this happened.

According to the British government, with whom I agree, these incidents were enough to leave Tripoli in order to avoid more dangerous incidents that may happen as a result of misinterpreting of the size of the risk. It is for this reason that we decided to leave, after ensuring the safe departure of our citizens from Libya. We organized two marine trips to evacuate Britons from Tripoli and then we left by land to Tunisia.

Is your return to Libya linked to the progress of military operations on the ground?

No, our return to Libya will be 95% based on political reasons rather than security reasons. We cannot go back to Tripoli under the presence of an illegitimate government. The appointment of al-Hassi’s government was in fact not legal and for this reason we do not acknowledge it.

It seems that there are other parties who are trying to enter the Libyan dialogue line, such as the philosopher Bernard Henry Levy, the personal envoy of the French presidency and his meeting with the Libyan parties in Tunisia. Wouldn’t these attempts undermine the efforts of Bernardino Leon’s mission or at least weaken its effectiveness?

I do not know Mr. Levy, nonetheless I think that all the efforts to bring the views of the parties to the conflict closer are useful. But of course Mr. Bernardino Leon is the special envoy of the UN Secretary-General and he is responsible for leading the dialogue officially and thus he is the most important person in this process. This should not prevent holding side meetings such as the dialogue conference, which is intended to be held in Algeria, for example, or the African Union’s readiness to make efforts for the success of the dialogue in Libya, as announced during the Special Envoys for Libya meeting in Paris.