My first trip to Libya was on March 1, 1978. As a young diplomat, I was about to start my first posting overseas and Tripoli would become my home for the next four-and-a-half years. Following this, I was appointed Ambassador to Libya. Over 40 years from that date, the respect I hold for this country and its people remains intact.  

I always found it hard to stomach why Libyans are fighting one another and inflicting so much damage, hatred and division across their territory. This is not the Libya I knew. These are not the Libyans whose friendship I continue to cherish. 

Libyans love their country as much as they love themselves and their families. Libyans are not terrorists. They are a peace-loving nation with a hard-working population engaged in business and trade.

Much has been said and written on the Libyan crisis since 2011. It is incumbent on me to share certain insights on such a complex issue after retiring from official duties in 2017. I have no words to thank President George Vella, then Minister for Foreign Affairs, for entrusting me with such a delicate brief when he appointed me as his Special Envoy on the Libyan crisis. I have encountered outstanding personalities and participated actively in innumerable meetings and high-level conferences on Libya, on occasion even accompanying Dr Vella himself, during which we made known our views on the issue.

The Libyan upheaval followed in earnest from the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia that overthrew President Ben Ali in January 2011. The Arab Spring uprising engulfed, fully or in part, Arab nations from the Maghreb to the Arabian Gulf, and eventually Syria and Yemen. 

It is pertinent to underline the fact that these events were mainly attempts to overthrow presidents that had been in power for decades. Monarchies remained practically untouched and came out unscathed as they took immediate action to suppress the first possible signs of turmoil, on occasion with outside help.

Libya’s predicament started in February 2011 with active resistance in Benghazi. It was supposed to end on October 20, 2011 when Colonel Gaddafi met his fateful end in Sebha and the last powerful remnants of the regime fell like a pack of cards.

Unfortunately, what Libyans desired and what effectively happened in the subsequent months and years destroyed the Libyan dream of liberty that had been brewing in so many minds. The Libyan people yearned for the democratisation of their country, where all could enjoy freedom, participate in decision-making processes and share the immense wealth with which Libya is endowed. This did not happen. 

Following four decades of dictatorial rule where decisions were taken single-handily, the Libyan State, with all Libyans involved, had the difficult task of building, chip by chip, the democratic institutions that would deliver Libya to the international community.

Inexperienced and without sincere guidance, I dare say that the Libyans thought that the road to democracy, respect for human rights, good governance and the rule of law was one they could tread lightly.

It is true that political parties mushroomed all over the place soon after Gaddafi’s overthrow, but this alone could not deliver the basic essentials of democracy. The situation quickly slipped from the Libyans’ own hands.  

The Libyans committed one grave, fundamental mistake on those eventful first days of freedom from repression. They ran in all directions grasping for power and turned their ire towards certain individuals with the aim of making them pay with their own pound of flesh. Libyans were power-hungry and in search of revenge.

At that particular point in Libya’s history, Libyans should have acknowledged the opportunity to sit around a table, reconcile and map the way forward. I will not speculate or enter into conspiracy theories about whether foreign actors precluded this from happening. The fact remains that certain important decisions and actions – or lack thereof – led us to where we are today.

I always had the feeling that the Libyans did not trust their foreign interlocutors

Many initiatives (perhaps too many of them) have been thrown on the table in an attempt to solve such a complex issue. I am confident that the United Nations and the European Union, together with other African organisations and individual countries, made extreme efforts to try and solve the crisis. 

I have attended innumerable meetings at EU and UN level. I was in Ghadames in September 2014 when Bernardino Leon, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, made his first attempt to bring the conflicting parties together.  

Other meetings were held under the chairmanship of Martin Kobler who succeeded Leon as Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, leading to the signing of the Schirat Agreement in December 2015 and eventually producing the only structured document we have up to the present day. 

Malta also did its part responsibly. I cannot but recall the initiative taken by Prime Minister Muscat and then Foreign Minister Vella to set up a meeting in Malta between then Libyan Prime Minister Al Thinni and UN Special Representative Leon. 

In December 2015, Malta was once again the venue for talks between the President of the Tobruk-based Libyan House of Representatives, Ageela Saleh, and the President of the Tripoli-based General National Congress, Nouri Abu Sahmein. Unfortunately, and to the detriment of the Libyan people themselves, the above efforts did not produce the desired results.  

The United Nations Support Mission for Libya (UNSMIL) that was established in 2011 to assist Libya in its endeavours towards a peaceful settlement changed its Head five times in six years.

I worked closely with Leon and Kobler who were also regular visitors to Malta. They both sought and appreciated our views and positions on Libya. I am sure that all the Special Representatives of the UN Secretary General tried incessantly to bring the issue to a close. 

The fact that they did not succeed was no fault of their own. Though the United Nations remains the most credible and accredited among all other organisations to conduct talks in Libya, I cannot but underline the fact that their high turnover of personnel did not help them with gaining the complete trust of the Libyans.

I always had the feeling – and I made this known on various occasions – that the Libyans did not trust their foreign interlocutors. The Libyans always perceived them as having a specific agenda to protect their own interests. More than that, the Libyans, as indeed all other nationalities, are proud enough not to accept what was being proposed as they deemed it to be an imposition by foreign actors. We just cannot neglect that this is a country that experienced colonial rule and had three military bases, namely American, British and Italian.

To conclude, I must lay out my thoughts regarding a potential solution to the crisis.

Firstly, Libya must remain a united country under one government. The temptation to divide the country should be set aside once and for all.

Secondly, a national reconciliation process must be set up that effectively heals the deep divisions that run across regions and Libyan communities. Interested parties should shoulder their responsibilities, quell their egos, forgive one another and open themselves up to the future.

Thirdly, there is no alternative to a negotiated political settlement between the parties themselves. The parties should recognise that, eventually, they would have to sit down and talk. They ought to do this now, not for the sake of others but for the sake of their children and their children’s children. Dialogue should prevail over the barrel of the gun. 

Fourthly, Libyans should be left alone to determine their own future. If anything, a high-level international personality, accepted and trusted by the Libyans themselves, could mediate and bring all interested parties to the negotiating table. Libya’s destiny is and will always remain in Libyan hands.

Malta, unlike other actors, has no specific agenda other than being a neighbourly and friendly country with the Libyans with whom we had established a people-to-people relationship over the years. Malta is duty-bound to assist Libya and its people – if and when requested – to return to normality and enjoy the benefits of democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.

Joseph Mangion is a former ambassador, adviser to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and special envoy on Libya.