EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini speaks to journalists in Brussels yesterday.

Reuters/Brussels

The European Union is preparing sanctions against five Libyans accused of blocking a UN-backed peace deal, Western diplomats said yesterday, after EU foreign ministers agreed to pressure all sides to negotiate.
Three senior militants who have threatened violence against any future unity government, as well as two military leaders who say their faction cannot abide by any accord, will be hit with EU travel bans and asset freezes unless they change their position, diplomats said.
The European Union says a UN-backed deal is the only way to end the war between rival governments vying for power in the oil producer four years after the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi, and will use sanctions to try to force all parties to negotiate.
Some Libyan warring factions signed an initial UN-sponsored agreement this month to form a unity government and end fighting. But the Tripoli-based parliament - the General National Congress (GNC) - refused to attend.
Three militia leaders in Tripoli who support the GNC are set to face sanctions. The highest profile leader is Abdulrahman Suweihli, a Misrata politician tied to the Libya Dawn administration in the Libyan capital. He is also listed on proposed UN sanctions held up by Russia and China.
The other two Tripoli men are Salah Badi and Abdulraouf Mannay. No details were immediately available about the pair.
Two military leaders in the east of Libya, who say their forces will not respect any peace accord, also face sanctions. They are General Khalifa Haftar, commander in chief of the eastern forces and air force head Fakir Jarroushi.
EU foreign ministers gave no details of names, but EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told a news conference: “We are prepared to adopt sanctions, we are considering names”.
The European Union wants a national unity government set up so that it can seek Libya’s formal approval for a naval mission to combat people-smugglers operating off the Libyan coast and responsible for a large migrant influx into Europe.
“We can’t just sit here while tragedies are happening. If dialogue is not bringing progress, it seems to me to be logical to impose sanctions,” Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo told reporters.
A confidential discussion paper drawn up by the EU’s diplomatic service and seen by Reuters sets out a range of options for sanctions, including imposing a full oil embargo. But the most likely option is a blacklist of individuals with power and influence in Libya’s ongoing internal conflict.
The United Nations brought factions together in the Moroccan coastal town of Skhirat to sign an initial power-sharing agreement in July after months of negotiations.

Europe promises support to Tunisia after attack

AFP/Brussels

The European Union promised yesterday to boost political and economic support for Tunisia to ensure its transition to democracy is not derailed by last month’s deadly attack on a tourist resort.
The attack on the resort of Sousse left 38 tourists dead, most of them British, and came just months after the killing of 22 people at the Bardo Museum in the capital Tunis in March.
The Tunisian economy has been hit hard as several governments, including Britain, warned their nationals against visiting the country.
“There is a strong desire to support Tunisia in its efforts to make the transition to democracy and with its economy, especially tourism,” EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini told Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid after he met with EU foreign ministers.
Mogherini said both sides were looking at help on border controls and preventing youths from becoming radicalised and heading for the many battlefields of North Africa and the Middle East.
Trade ties could be improved to help the economy, for example by increasing quotas this year for Tunisian olive oil, she said.
“We support reforms and we want to form a real partnership so that Tunisia remains a model for the future in the region,” she said.
The Tunisian premier said he was thankful for EU support but noted that after the euphoria of the 2011 popular uprising, people were now demanding jobs which the authorities had so far been unable to produce.
The Sousse attack has threatened tourism which provides employment for 400,000 people plus another million in associated jobs, he said.
The Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility for the Sousse attack.
“The EU and Tunisia agree to step up co-operation in the struggle against terrorism. The war will be long but it will be won, thanks to our friends,” Essid said.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said “border controls with Libya will be crucial in order to keep radical elements out”, and Britain and France were ready to offer help on that front.
The Sousse gunman is believed to have been trained in Libya for the attack.
European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker, who met Essid separately, said he wanted EU citizens to continue visiting Tunisia.
“If these crazy terrorists want to harm the tourist sector, it is because they do not love Tunisia,” he said.
A delegation of Tunisian ministers held talks yesterday in London to urge the government to reverse its warning against travel to the country.