Yesterday #Libya's unity governmt delegation was prevented from landing in #Benghazi. A typically Libyan affair which revealed:

- The limits of PM #Dabeiba's tactic of buying support
- The enduring problem of #Haftar & appeasing him
- That Libya's east-west division is resurgent

Before his planned arrival PM Dbeiba announced he was appointing those close to Haftar & his son Saddam to senior positions in the Defence, Finance & oil ministries

This is Dbeiba's MO & given it was associates of Saddam who stopped him landing, first time it blew up in his face

There's layers to this, sure. But at the core, Dbeiba was taught the same lesson that former PM Serraj and every diplomat working on Libya eventually learns.

Appeasing Haftar is a fools errand.

Every act of appeasement empowers him, and he only banks it and demands more

What's most disturbing, is that under the cover of forming a unity government Libya's division is deepening fast

Dbeiba's handing out roles just so everyone can access the state. But this approach allows statelets to form- don't give someone trying to rob you a copy of your keys

East Libya is now effectively a statelet, with:
- Parliament speaker Aguileh Salah as a political head
- Haftar providing the terror needed to capture the local economy
- Ability to influence the oil industry
- its own foreign relations with the likes of #Greece & #Egypt

If reports are true that #Egypt's President Sisi has negotiated for Dbeiba to be able to land-in and visit #Benghazi - #Libya's second city - then this is the starkest symbol yet that the process intended to unify #Libya after Haftar's failed putsch has been deeply subverted.

Re-upping this, my policy brief from January, for more on what can be done to preserve #Libya's unity, and why doing so is simply the most important step towards stopping it becoming a regional battlefield once more.... https://ecfr.eu/publication/spoiler-alert-how-europe-can-save-diplomacy-in-libya/