Inside Story

Is Libya a failed state?

Rallies have been held in Tripoli and Benghazi, both for and against the new parliament.

The newly elected house of representatives which replaced the general national congress, has been holding sessions in the eastern city of Tobruk, far from the clashes in Libya’s two main cities, and has called for a unity government.

Factions with Islamic agenda have rejected the sessions held in Tobruk as unconstitutional. Those factions were rejected in the ballot box.

Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya’s fragile government has been unable to impose authority on groups of former rebels who refuse to disband and are allied with competing political factions battling for post-war dominance.

A UN delegation held talks in Tripoli on Friday to try to broker a ceasefire between armed factions that have turned the Libyan capital and Benghazi into battlegrounds.

But can the UN alone secure a peace deal in Libya? Or is international intervention needed?

Presenter – Martine Dennis

Guests:  

George Joffe – professor at the University of Cambridge.

Helene Bravin – journalist and author of a book on Muammar Gaddafi.

Aans Al Gomati – director of the Tripoli-based Sadeq Institute, Libya’s first think tank.