Libya UN Qatar Funding Dispute Deepens Rift Between East and West
Lawmakers in Libya’s eastern-backed House of Representatives sharply rebuked the UN’s latest diplomatic initiative last Tuesday. In an official statement, the HoR’s Defense and National Security Committee denounced the UN Support Mission’s funding pact with Qatar as a “blatant breach of neutrality” and a violation of Libya’s sovereignty. The committee warned that foreign financing of Libyan political talks risked “internationaliz[ing] the Libyan crisis,” imposing external agendas on a process that it insisted must be “strictly Libyan-led”. Its spokesman said the move by UNSMIL exceeded its mandate and threatened to derail any genuine solution to Libya’s long-stalled transition.
Later the same day in Benghazi, the eastern-installed prime minister, Dr. Osama Hamad, echoed those objections. Flanked by cabinet ministers, Mr. Hamad condemned the deal as a “dangerous and unprecedented” overreach by the UN. He demanded that the agreement be rescinded and apologized for, calling it “an unacceptable departure from international standards” that infringed Libya’s “right to self-determination”. In his view, no politically driven dialogue process will be deemed legitimate unless it is purely domestically driven and entirely free from external financing or undue influence. These statements formalize a rupture between Libya’s eastern authorities and the Tripoli-based UN mission. The eastern government has already suspended all cooperation with UNSMIL, and HoR leaders say they will reconsider the UN’s presence if it continues down this path.
In Tripoli, the tone has been different. UN Special Representative Hanna Tetteh publicly welcomed Qatar’s contribution as routine support for Libya’s political roadmap. She said the funding would “strengthen the UN’s efforts to implement the roadmap” she outlined in August, aimed at unifying institutions and preparing for elections. A UN Development Programme press release noted that the agreement – signed on 17 November at the Qatari embassy in Tripoli – is meant to “strengthen inclusive political dialogue”. According to UNDP, Qatari and UN officials believe the project will broaden civic participation and help Libyans advance their own solutions. The funding goes to a UNDP–UNSMIL “Political Dialogue and Civic Engagement” project launched in 2015 to support dialogue, youth and women’s involvement, and even election preparations.
The UN side emphasizes that such donations are common. UNSMIL quickly issued a statement explaining that at least thirteen countries and organizations have voluntarily funded its Libyan peace initiatives over the past decade. It stressed that donor money is pooled under UN oversight, with strict controls on budgeting and auditing, to ensure that no contributor can dictate the agenda or outcome. “No donor country has any role in determining the direction of the political process,” the mission insisted, saying that Libya’s transition “belongs solely to its people”. In other words, Doha’s grant is being treated as part of a neutral, multilateral fund for the UN-facilitated roadmap, not a Qatari-imposed plan.
The episode underscores Libya’s uneasy balance between external aid and sovereignty. On one side, the Tripoli-based government and international partners argue that foreign support is needed to help rebuild Libya’s shattered institutions and economy. Indeed, just days after the Qatar deal became public, senior Libyan officials traveled to Washington to court investment and assistance. A delegation led by the prime minister’s economic adviser and the finance minister held talks at the World Bank and U.S. agencies. They told reporters that Libya’s pursuit of unity “stood at a critical crossroads,” and they sought deeper American backing for the country’s economic reforms. As one official put it, closer engagement with international partners would be “essential to achieving inclusive governance and sustainable development” in Libya.
Even at home, there have been signs of pragmatic cooperation. This month the Central Bank applauded a new “Unified Development Program” agreed jointly by the eastern parliament and the Tripoli-based High Council of Statel. The bank said the plan would direct resources into infrastructure, education and health across all regions, promoting transparency, fair spending and economic growth. For a war-torn nation, channeling oil revenues and donor funds into jobs and services is urgent. But the political fissures remain deep.
For now, Libya’s east and west remain at odds over how (or whether) outside actors should intervene.
Eastern leaders see the UN–Qatar deal through the prism of past conflicts and foreign meddling. They point to times when Libyans felt sidelined by externally backed agendas. Tripoli, by contrast, views international help as indispensable to unfreeze Libya’s stalled transition and economy. This most recent development suggests that even well-intentioned aid projects can spark suspicion when trust between rival camps is low. How the UN and Libyan factions resolve this dispute will test the durability of Libya’s fragile roadmap: if one side abandons the process, the path to elections and stability could slip further away.
