Rhiannon Smith spoke to the Voice of America's Africa Today radio show on 8 March about the significant impact that the Benghazi Defence Brigades' (BDB) advance against Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) forces is likely to have on Libyan political alliances and the ongoing peace process, and how prolonged conflict in the oil crescent is even more likely now that the House of Representatives (HoR) has voted to withdraw from the Libya Political Dialogue. She highlighted how the BDB's handover of Sidra and Ras Lanuf oil ports to Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) forces aligned with the Government of National Accord (GNA) may not signify the strength of the GNA but rather its weakness, as by tacitly extending its support to the BDB, the GNA is actually bowing to pressure from the loose Islamist alliance led by Khalifa al-Ghwell in Tripoli.Click here to listen at 9 minutes into the clip.
BDB Ports Handover Could Benefit Ghwell and Allies