The President of Libya’s House of Representatives, Agila Saleh Essa, spoke before the United Nations General Assembly this week and he called on the member states to help the country with its struggle for democracy. The same groups that helped bring down Muammar Gaddafi have continued fighting against the new democratically elected government. Libya’s capital, Tripoli, has fallen to rebel groups and the government has been meeting in Tobruk. However, Essa said that “This could not have happened had the international community taken the situation in Libya seriously.” Libya’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations has said that the crisis could cause the country to devolve into civil war. At one point in his speech, Essa said that the United Nations needs to either implement Security Council Resolution 2174 which aims to limit the flow of illegal arms into Libya or say that “Libyans have to face terrorism alone.”
