Libya: London legal wrangles may unbalance fragile path to peace

In light of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)’s expectation that Libya’s government of national accord (GNA) will be approved “within the coming weeks”, Mr Justice Blair, presiding over the Commercial Court in London on 7 March, adjourned a case between rival claimants to the chairmanship of the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA). In doing so, he avoided, or at least postponed, an almost impossible judgement which also threatened to embarrass the British government and expose the weakness of the international position towards Libya.