T

he absence of a cease-fire and continuous warfare in Libya means it will be pointless for the United Nations (UN) to begin peacekeeping operations there as suggested by Indonesia.

University of Indonesia security expert Andi Widjajanto said Tuesday that the enforcement of a no-fly zone had indeed forced Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi to set aside plans for air attacks over Tobruk and Benghazi — Qaddafi’s opposition stronghold — but might lead the dictator to procure arms and other military logistics along land routes.

“The situation will get worse because Qaddafi will procure arms through the black market where money laundering can also occur,” he told The Jakarta Post, emphasizing that peacekeeping operations could not be carried out because a cease-fire was unlikely to happen in such a situation.

“Therefore, like it or not, there has to be peacemakers to enforce peace in Libya. In military terms, it’s called land invasion,” he said.

When peace is achieved it will be time for reconciliation in Libya, whether through democratic elections or power sharing, Andi said.

During a hearing with members of the House of Representatives on Monday, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa called for a cease-fire by all parties as the use of force in war-torn Libya would only lead to more casualties.

Marty also said Indonesia was urging a UN presence in peacekeeping missions in Libya to create conditions conducive for the people of Libya to determine their own destiny in terms of political process.

Coalition nations, most of them members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), along with the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, have carried out air strikes over Libya to enforce the UN resolution on Libya, which includes a no-fly zone, an arms embargo, an assets freeze and a travel ban.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono gave Marty’s statement great political weight when he said that the UN and the international community should prioritize seeking peaceful political solutions to end the conflict in Libya.

“There are two elements of the UN resolution that are still sidelined; [the first is] the need for the immediate establishment of a cease-fire,” he said Tuesday.

“The second important element is to seek an immediate peaceful political settlement to put an end to the conflict in Libya.”

Gadjah Mada University guest lecturer and political analyst Nasir Tamara said although a land invasion was one of the possible solutions to ending warfare in Libya, he doubted that the UN would be able to overpower NATO in enforcing the UN resolution the way the UN wanted.

“What is the UN’s leverage to go against NATO?” he told the Post.

“Theoretically, [helping the UN enforce the resolution] was NATO’s reason for carrying out air attacks. But, in reality, what they are actually doing is in their members’ interest in Libyan oil,” he said.