Calls for decisive decisions after the Benghazi conference
LIBYA – Libyan political analyst Khaled Al-Hijazi has said the Benghazi security meeting of the heads of security and counter-terrorism agencies is a necessary step in confronting the security threats facing Libya. He said it exposed a fact that cannot be ignored: militias and organised crime networks are no longer merely a passing security challenge but have become a direct threat to the state’s authority, stability and sovereignty.
Intelligence coordination and pursuing funding and arms
Al-Hijazi told Erem News the meeting’s most significant message was the recognition that confronting these groups cannot succeed through unilateral moves. Instead, he said, it requires genuine security and intelligence coordination, information sharing and the pursuit of sources of funding, arms and smuggling, along with a clear strategy that does not stop at containing the threat but aims to end these networks’ ability to impose their influence.
Unified command and no political use of weapons
He added: “What is needed is a decisive political decision to end the duality of security authority, unify command and institutions, and prevent weapons being used for political or economic gain. As long as divisions persist and centres of influence multiply, any security effort will remain vulnerable to faltering or exploitation.”
Al-Hijazi stressed that a stable state cannot be built in Libya while militias remain outside the rule of law. He called for the Benghazi meeting to become a starting point for specific practical steps based on enforcing the law on everyone without exception, holding those involved in terrorism and organised crime to account and strengthening the capabilities of official institutions.
Practical steps to restore the state’s authority
He said what was needed was not to manage the security crisis but to end it gradually through firm political and security will, because restoring the state’s authority was a fundamental condition for Libya’s stability, not an option that could be postponed.
