Category: Blog
Tunis Adopts “Positive Neutrality” towards Libyan Conflict Stakeholders
In the aftermath of aggravation of an already deteriorating situation in Libya, Tunis has apparently judged it wiser to adapt its policy towards the rival governments in Libya (GNC’s Hassi government and HoR’s Thenni cabinet) and adopt “positive neutrality” as...
Increasing Difficulties in the Dialogue Process
UNSMIL’s dialogue efforts has become the latest causality of the aftermath of ISIL’s ruthless execution of 21 Copts in Sirte, and the Egyptian regime’s retaliation air raids on reportedly ISIL assets in Derna, in northeast Libya. The deteriorating security situation...
Habib Essid faces his First Southern Challenge
Prime Minsiter Habaib Essid’s first cabinet meeting on 9 February took place on the backdrop of violent protests in Dheheba and Ben Guerdane on the Tunisian-Libyan border. The protests were triggered by the introduction of a border-crossing tax of 30...
Born Dead: Essid’s Cabinet Fails to Convince
On Friday 23 January, Tunisian PM Habib Essid announced the composition of his government; but by the weekend, it became clear that Essid’s cabinet would not survive a vote of confidence at the National Assembly. First came Ennahdha’s decision not...
Libya’s Geneva 2 Dialogue: “Don’t Expect Immediate Results”
On Sunday 25 January, UNSMIL announced that talks among Libyan crisis stakeholders would take place on Monday in preparation for a second round of dialogue on Wednesday. Leon’s press release indicated that this second round would convene representatives of local...
UNAMSIL’s Libyan Dialogue: Tripoli-Geneva via Istanbul and Back?
The first round of a Libyan dialogue kicked off last Wednesday, 12 January, under the auspices of Bernardino Leon’s UNAMSIL. After a round of two days of talks, Leon understood that this new initiative would see the same unfruitful fate...
Ghadamas II Political Dialogue
Echoes from Tripoli let believe that a UNSMIL’s new round of political dialogue between the GNC and Tobruk’s House of Representatives (HoR) would take place on Wednesday 11 February in Ghadamas, southwest of Tripoli, on border with Algeria. On the...
Presidential Elections: Revolution, Counter-Revolution, and the Second Wave
The election of Beji Caid Essebsi President of Tunisia in last December’s elections motivated different readings among analysts. For some of them Essebsi’s election symbolised the “final phase of a counter-revolution that closed the Arab Spring parenthesis that was opened...