UN Report Indication UAE Role in Libya Missiles Alarming

International United Nations Watch notes with concern that recent missile strikes near Tripoli appear to show evidence of covert involvement by the United Arab Emirates, according to a confidential report seen by the Associated Foreign Press. The United Nations is investigating the situation, which point to the UAE appears supplying weapons in a manner that is in direct violation of an arms embargo in Libya.

The confidential report seen by the AFP shows that during an April 19 – 20 missile attack on the suburbs of Tripoli, missiles were used that were likely fired by Chinese-made drones. Missile debris clearly shows the Blue Arrow air-to-surface missile, which is only in use in China, Kazakhstan, and the UAE.

This investigation is taking place in the context of other clear involvement by the United Arab Emirates in supporting the Libyan National Army of General Khalifa Haftar. The UAE, Saudi Arabia, and France are seen as major backers of Haftar’s push to gain control over large sections of Libya, in spite of how he is battling the UN-recognised government, in addition to local paramilitary and militia groups.

International United Nations Watch urges all relevant United Nations bodies to condemn the UAE’s role in providing weapons to Haftar’s Libyan National Army. It calls on these bodies to pressure their own member states to subordinate their own national ambitions in Libya to the concerns and interests of the international community. This is particularly necessary given the high costs of the Libyan uprising in 2011, which unseated the government of Muammar Gaddafi with UN-sponsored backing from NATO.