Libyan Army Could Crush ISIL by End of Year if Arms Embargo Lifted: Minister

Libyan Armed Forces could eradicate the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist group by the end of 2015 if the UN Security Council lifts its arms embargo against the country, Libyan Information Minister Omar Qweri told Sputnik Arabic.

“The ISIL positions have been identified and the militants have been surrounded. The Libyan Army is ready, one only needs to lift the embargo. If that happens, it can solve the ISIL problem before the end of the year,” Qweri said in an interview.

Asked to assess Arab military intervention in Libya, the information minister said “we would have asked for it if we had wanted intervention.”

“Perhaps, we could allow Egypt to intervene, but not all the Arab countries,” Qweri told Sputnik.

In May, the UN Security Council refused to lift its four-year arms embargo after Libya again urged the organization to give it means to deal with ISIL militants.

Libya has been torn by a power struggle between two rival governments and numerous rebel groups since a NATO invasion toppled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. In early 2015, the ISIL militant group took advantage of a security vacuum in Libya and gained a foothold there.

The West is interested in keeping Libya volatile, while Russia’s approach toward the Libyan crisis is “wiser” and "more mature,” Libyan Information Minister said.

“The West supports chaos, rather than the General National Congress [in Tripoli]. Their strategy can be described as ‘acceptable violence,’ while Russia’s stance and Russian-Arab relations over the past 70 years have been wise and mature,” Qweri said in an interview.

Qweri noted that when the United Nations and the Arab League planned the invasion, Russia insisted that Qaddafi should be deposed by Libyans or Arabs, not NATO forces.