Libya escapes break-up, but no end in sight for oil terminal blockades

The Supreme Constitutional Court ruling on 9 June confirming Abdullah Al-Thinni as prime minister and ruling out the claim of his supposed successor Ahmed Maetig has been accepted by all sides and restored a degree of authority and unity to a country which has seemed on the verge of splitting in two over the past month. Thinni effectively returns to the role as caretaker in advance of elections to a new interim parliament – to be called the House of Representatives – scheduled for 25 June. It is not clear whether he will be able to revive the partial deal that he struck with the federalist groups blockading ports in eastern Libya in early April, nor whether he can impose central government control on retired General Khalifa Haftar, who has been conducting an unauthorised counterterrorism offensive against Islamist groups in Cyrenaica.