Since the toppling of its longtime leader, Moammar Gadhafi, on Oct. 20, 2011, Libya has been divided between two quarreling governments and dominated by dozens of armed militias. The country has seen little progress in terms of peace, national reconciliation and economic stability.
What Salame brings to the post is probably his experience being a former Lebanese minister who knows how difficult it is to make quarreling factions agree in the absence of serious national dialogue. In addition, he is a well-known Arab intellectual, academic and author. Before the UN job, he was founding dean of the School of International Affairs, part of the French prestigious Sciences Po think tank and university in Paris.
As the new UN envoy, he should carefully review previous UN efforts in Libya and identify what mistakes were made in tackling the Libyan crisis to avoid repeating them. One major error made by all previous UN diplomats has been the marginalization of two important potential political players: the supporters of the former regime who are a sizeable number in the tribally divided country, and the tribal fabric of the Libyan society, which can’t be sidelined for peace to have a chance.
Supporters of the former regime in exile are now organizing themselves to have Seif al-Islam, Gadhafi’s son, lead them as one group after the young Gadhafi was released from prison June 11. This brings a new dimension to the conflict, since it will be the first time a son of Gadhafi enters the political scene.