Pakistan's Libya peace push has a China connection and $4 billion price tag

Pakistan spent the first half of 2026 basking in an unfamiliar role: peacemaker. Its PM and Field Marshall helped broker a ceasefire between the United States and Iran, and for a moment, Islamabad looked like the region's most unlikely power broker. But that ceasefire has since come apart in less than 3 weeks, with fresh strikes, dead civilians, and a shut Strait of Hormuz reminding everyone how fragile the deal always was.As the war teethered and tensions began to reappear Pakistan quietly shifted its gaze. Now, Islamabad is trying to do in Libya what it could not fully finish in the Middle East: End a long, grinding civil war through backdoor diplomacy. Reuters has reported that Pakistani officials have been mediating between Libya's rival eastern and western factions since late last year, with the blessing of Washington, Riyadh, Doha, and Ankara.There is just one awkward detail.