At the U.N. Security Council France proposes to implement sanctions on militias involved in ongoing clashes between rival factions Tripoli, which has undermined U.N. efforts to hold elections in Libya by year-end to unite the country.
More than hundred people have been killed and 400 injured in hostilities between the Seventh Brigade, or Kaniyat, from Tarhouna, a town 65 km southeast of Tripoli, against the Tripoli Revolutionaries’ Brigades (TRB) and the Nawasi, two of the capital’s largest armed groups.
Tripoli and western Libya are lead by a U.N.-backed government mainly supported by armed groups, while Eastern Libya is controlled by a rival administration, supported by Tobruk Parliament.
“In the face of the worsening security situation in Tripoli, there is a responsibility to support the Libyans and that means we must be tougher on those that want to keep the status quo for their benefits,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said reporters ahead of a meeting hosted by France on Libya on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.
In 2013, France opened an investigation into the allegations after French news website Mediapart published reports following the claims by Franco-Lebanese businessman, Ziad Takieddine. Takieddine alleged he transferred €5 million from Gaddafi’s former intelligence chief Abdullah Senussi to the head of Sarkozy’s campaign – Claude Gueant.
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