Forces loyal to Moammar al Gadhafi appear to be willing to broker a deal with French forces in Libya, according to an article published in The New York Times on Wednesday. The deal would help put an end to the five-month civil war in the region.

Uprising erupted in Libya in mid-February, resulting in former president Gadhafi’s removal from office. Since then, war has raged on between rebels favoring a regime change and Gadhafi loyalists. Gadhafi has been accused of ordering the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 35 Syracuse University students traveling home from studying abroad in London and Florence in December 1988.

Signs of reconciliation between the two factions began to take root after contact was made between the French government and officials close to Gadhafi, according to The New York Times article. France, alongside the United States, has backed a NATO airstrike campaign against Gadhafi’s forces.

‘A political solution in Libya is more indispensable than ever and it is beginning to take shape,’ French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said in the article.

However, Daniel DePetris, a graduate student at SU studying security issues in the Middle East, said it could take months for a solution to be reached because talks remain in their infancy.

A resolution brokered by countries such as Russia, South Africa and the United States is only one potential outcome of Libya’s ongoing conflict, he said. A protracted civil war and a win for Gadhafi’s regime are also possible, though the latter appears less likely, DePetris said.

The conflict in Libya has outlasted similar struggles that swept neighboring Middle Eastern countries earlier this year in what was deemed the Arab Spring, according to a July 14 BBC article. DePetris said the ‘combustible mix’ of long-standing anti-Gadhafi sentiment in Libya and outside intervention from NATO has helped prolong the civil war.

The U.S. policy on war in Libya has differed greatly from countries such as Bahrain, where uprisings were quelled early on, DePetris said. Libya is of little strategic interest to the United States, whereas interference in Bahrain could complicate ties with U.S. ally Saudi Arabia, DePetris said.

Though DePetris said the United States’ subjective policy on uprisings in Middle Eastern nations may appear questionable to Middle Easterners, American foreign policy shouldn’t be uniform due to the differing circumstances of each uprising.

‘To the Arab world, it’s definitely hypocritical,’ he said. ‘(But) as an American, we shouldn’t have a unified policy.’

Domestically, DePetris said he thinks President Barack Obama has done a ‘horrible job communicating with Congress’ on strategy in Libya. Ten U.S. lawmakers filed suit against Obama in June for pursuing military action in Libya before seeking congressional approval, according to a June 19 Politico article.

While DePetris does not foresee Obama’s handling of Libya as politically harmful to the president, the ‘two branches of government are duking it out over something that doesn’t matter to our long-term foreign interests.’

Recent actions by the United States, however, have signaled long-term support for the rebels.

The United States has recognized rebel leaders as the governing authority of Libya, according to an article published in The Washington Post on Friday. The diplomatic authority could free up $30 billion in frozen assets that formerly belonged to the Gadhafi government.

The decision to acknowledge Libyan rebel forces as a legitimate government followed a Friday meeting in Turkey between 30 Western and Arab nations and the rebels’ Transitional National Council, according to The Washington Post article. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in the article that the council has agreed to pursue a democratic agenda.

At the meeting, rebel leaders presented an outline that eased the Obama administration’s concerns of the faction’s ability to govern. The council intends to create an interim government that would steer Libya toward democratic reforms, and eventually establish a new government, according to The Washington Post article.

Doubts were raised by Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio), who called freeing the assets ‘incredibly premature’ and questioned the rebels’ loyalty to the United States. Libyan rebels countered and said they are not seeking financial support from the United States, but access to funds that rightfully belong to the people of Libya, according to the Washington Post article.

DePetris said this acknowledgement has been a ‘longtime coming’ for the U.S.-backed rebels but cautioned that NATO must also be considerate of Gadhafi’s conditions.

Said DePetris: ‘The key is whether NATO will be smart by being flexible, perhaps allowing Gadhafi to stay in the country as long as he agrees to officially let go of power.’

dbtruong@syr.edu

Published on July 17, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Debbie: dbtruong@syr.edu | @debbietruong