The Libya Contact Group was an international collective established to support the Libyan National Transitional Council in their effort to overthrow the regime of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. It was hosted by western nations and members of the Arab League, and known by a variety of other names including the Friends of Libya and the International Contact Group for Libya. [1]
The Contact Group was set up following the London Conference on Libya in March 2011. [2] [3] The conference included United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, prominent delegates from the Arab League and from European countries, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and representatives from NATO. Leaders of the Libyan National Transitional Council including Mahmoud Jibril were consulted prior to the conference but did not attend. [3]
Its first three meetings were in Doha, Rome and Abu Dhabi. [4]
In its fourth meeting, held in Istanbul in July 2011 and attended by American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, [5] the Contact Group announced its participants' agreement to deal with the Libyan National Transitional Council, the major coalition of anti-Gaddafi forces, as the "legitimate governing authority in Libya". [6] [7]
The fifth meeting was planned to take place in New York on September, [8] but the events in Tripoli forced the members to meet again in Istanbul on extraordinary meeting on 25 August to set up road map for construction of "new Libya". [9] [10]
The group recognized the progress made by the Libyan people, NTC, and NATO forces, and underlined the importance of continued support from all entities in the formation of a free and democratic Libya. [11]
At the meeting on 1 September 2011 in Paris, the Contact Group was dissolved and replaced with a new international meeting group called the Friends of Libya. [12] [13]
A second Friends of Libya conference was held on September 20, 2011 in New York City. [14]
Belgium, Luxembourg, and Netherlands shared a rotating Benelux seat. Denmark, Norway, and Sweden had a similar arrangement, sharing a Nordic seat.
Bulgaria was originally an observer, but it began sitting as a full member at the June meeting in Abu Dhabi and thereafter. South Africa boycotted the September meeting in Paris.
Arab League 
European Union 
Gulf Cooperation Council 
NATO 
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation 
United Nations Arab League, Gulf Cooperation Council and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation were originally observers, but they began sitting as a full members probably from 29 of July.
President of France Nicolas Sarkozy invited several new countries and one international organisation on the last meeting of Libya Contact Group:
Nigeria and Saudi Arabia reportedly did attend. [15]
The politics of Libya has been in an uncertain state since the collapse of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya in 2011 and a recent civil war and various jihadists and tribal elements controlling parts of the country. On 10 March 2021, the interim Government of National Unity (GNU), unifying the Second Al-Thani Cabinet and the Government of National Accord was formed, only to face new opposition in Government of National Stability, until Libyan Political Dialogue Forum assured the ongoing ceasefire.
Relations between Algeria and Libya are considerably strained by tensions between the revolutionary National Transitional Council (NTC) of Libya and the single-party autocracy of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria. Bilateral relations were generally amicable during Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year rule of Libya.
Franco-Libyan relations are the relations between Libya and France. For the most part, their historical relations are complicated. Libya maintains its embassy in Paris. France also has an embassy in Tripoli.
Relations between Libya and the United Kingdom were initially close and positive after the British Armed Forces helped rebel forces to topple Muammar Gaddafi's regime in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. British officials have visited Libya several times since then, including two visits by Prime Minister David Cameron on which large crowds turned out to welcome him. The British Armed Forces are also helping to train Libya's National Army as part of wider cooperation on security matters. Security conditions have deteriorated since 2014, when the United Kingdom suspended operations from their embassy in Tripoli, into a second civil war. In June 2022, the United Kingdom re-opened its embassy in Tripoli.
Mustafa Abdul Jalil is a Libyan politician who was the Chairman of the National Transitional Council from 5 March 2011 until its dissolution on 8 August 2012. This position meant he was de facto head of state during a transitional period after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi's government in the Libyan Civil War, and until the handover of power to the General National Congress.
The international reactions to the Libyan Civil War were the responses to the series of protests and military confrontations occurring in Libya against the government of Libya and its de facto head of state Muammar Gaddafi.
The Libyan Civil War began on 17 February 2011 as a civil protest and later evolved into a widespread uprising. By mid-August, anti-Gaddafi forces effectively supported by a NATO-led international coalition were ascendant in Tripolitania, breaking out of the restive Nafusa Mountains in the south to mount an offensive toward the coast and advancing from Misrata on loyalist-held cities and villages from the north and east.
The National Transitional Council (NTC) was a transitional government established in the 2011 Libyan civil war. The rebel forces overthrew the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya of Muammar Gaddafi. The NTC governed Libya for a period of ten months after the end of the war, holding elections to a General National Congress on 7 July 2012, and handing power to the newly elected assembly on 8 August.
Mahmoud Jibril el-Warfally, also transcribed Jabril or Jebril or Gebril, was a Libyan politician who served as the interim Prime Minister of Libya for seven and a half months during the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi and the Libyan Civil War, chairing the executive board of the National Transitional Council (NTC) from 5 March to 23 October 2011. He also served as the Head of International Affairs. As of July 2012, Jibril was the head of one of the largest political parties in Libya, the National Forces Alliance.
The foreign relations of Libya were largely reset at the end of the Libyan Civil War, with the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi and the Second Libyan Civil War. The current Minister of Foreign Affairs since 15 March 2021 is Najla Mangoush. Although many foreign embassies in Tripoli closed down in 2014 due to the fighting, by the end of 2017 thirty diplomatic missions were reopened in the Libyan capital.
International recognition of the National Transitional Council of Libya was given by the majority of international states but was not universal.
American involvement in the Libyan Civil War initially consisted of diplomatic initiatives and sanctions. This was followed by the implementation of the UN-mandated no-fly zone, the development of diplomatic relations with the rebels as well as humanitarian aid, bombing missions to destroy Gaddafi's military capabilities, and diplomatic assistance to the rebels.
The London Conference on Libya was an international meeting of government representatives in London on 29 March 2011 to discuss intervention in the Libyan Civil War on behalf of the National Transitional Council. Attendees included foreign ministers and leaders from the United Nations, the League of Arab States, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the European Union and NATO. The meeting was chaired by the British Foreign Secretary William Hague. While leaders of the Libyan opposition including Mahmoud Jibril were consulted prior to the conference, they did not attend.
Libya–South Africa relations refer to the current and historical relationship between Libya and South Africa.
The 2011 Libyan Civil War began on 17 February 2011 as a civil protest and later evolved into a widespread uprising. After a military intervention led by France, the United Kingdom, and the United States on 19 March turned the tide of the conflict at the Second Battle of Benghazi, anti-Gaddafi forces regrouped and established control over Misrata and most of the Nafusa Mountains in Tripolitania and much of the eastern region of Cyrenaica. In mid-May, they finally broke an extended siege of Misrata.
The aftermath of the 2011 Libyan civil war has been characterized by marked change in the social and political order of Libya after the overthrow and killing of Muammar Gaddafi in the civil war that was fought in Libya in 2011. The country has been subject to ongoing proliferation of weapons, Islamic insurgencies, sectarian violence, and lawlessness, with spillovers affecting neighboring countries including Mali.
The killing of Muammar Gaddafi took place on 20 October 2011 after the Battle of Sirte. Muammar Gaddafi, the deposed leader of Libya, was captured by NTC forces and executed shortly afterwards.
The international reactions to the killing of Muammar Gaddafi concern the responses of foreign governments and supranational organisations to the killing of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi at the Battle of Sirte, the last major engagement of the 2011 Libyan civil war, on 20 October 2011.
The Group of Friends of the Syrian People is an international diplomatic collective of countries and bodies convening periodically on the topic of Syria outside the U.N. Security Council. The collective was created in response to a Russian and Chinese veto on a Security Council resolution condemning Syria.
Ibrahim Omar Dabbashi is a Libyan diplomat who formerly served as the Libyan Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. Dabbashi led the country's UN mission in opposing the continued rule of Muammar Gaddafi.
