In an article titled “U.S. and allies ready to help arm Libyan forces against Islamic State”, written by Carol Morello and carried by The Washington Post, the journalist reports that:
“Diplomats said they would support Libya’s request to be exempted from a U.N. embargo that was put in place five years ago to keep arms out of the hands of Islamist militants and rival militias locked in a power struggle. Other parts of the embargo would be reinforced, the communique said, so that arms go only to the forces being established by the “government of national accord” that returned to Libya six weeks ago when Prime Minister Fayez Serraj arrived on a boat with his allies.”
Later on in her article, Carol Morello quotes Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni:
“With stabilization, we can fight terrorism,” he said. “We can assure development to a country with rich potentialities but with a strong humanitarian crisis now. We can tackle the migration issue. We can develop the resources of Libya. Without stabilization, we risk tensions, divisions and intra-Libyan fights.”
Ivan Tymopheev, director of Programs, Russian Council for International Relations; and Justin Dargin, Middle East scholar at the University of Oxford commented on the issue.
