Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

MIDDLE EAST

France urges war-torn Libya to act on UN peace plan

France's foreign minister on Thursday urged Libya's unity government to act on a United Nations plan for 2018 elections and a national dialogue to stabilise the war-torn country.

Published: 22 December 2017 09:39 CET
France urges war-torn Libya to act on UN peace plan
Macron looks on as Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj (L) shakes hands with General Khalifa Haftar (R), commander in the Libyan National Army (LNA). Photo: AFP
“This calendar is the indispensable political solution for Libya and it must be implemented now with the utmost speed,” Jean-Yves Le Drian said after talks in Tripoli with Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the Government of National Accord.
 
Oil-rich Libya has been wracked by chaos since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi.
   
Sarraj's GNA, the product of a 2015 deal aimed at restoring stability to Libya, has failed to impose its authority across much of the country, particularly the east where a rival government backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar holds sway.
 
READ ALSO:

'Opportunistic' Macron on a mission to restore France's lost Middle East cloutPhoto: AFP 

A plan presented to the UN Security Council in September by international envoy Ghassan Salame seeks to negotiate a new political deal that would be accepted by authorities in the east.
   
French President Emmanuel Macron, who hosted a meeting in July between Sarraj and Haftar, at the time announced a deal to hold elections in the spring.
   
Le Drian said he and Sarraj had a “total convergence of views” on the UN plan and on “the need to move quickly”.
   
In Tripoli, he also visited a detention centre for migrants waiting to be repatriated to their home countries.
   
The minister travelled on to Benghazi, 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) east of the capital, to meet Haftar, who said this week that the GNA had lost any legitimacy since its mandate expired on December 17 under the 2015 accord.
   
Le Drian said he delivered a message to Haftar: “There is no other alternative to the accord, also for you. You have a recognised international image. Place it at the service of your country.”

IMMIGRATION

Libya conference to be held in Sicily in November: Italy

A Libya conference will be held in Sicily in November, Italy's foreign minister said Tuesday, with talks focusing on an "inclusive approach" to stabilising the war-torn north African country while not fixating on a date for elections.

Published: 3 October 2018 10:00 CEST
Libya conference to be held in Sicily in November: Italy
The coastline of the Sicilian island of Lampedusa. Photo: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP

The peace conference in Palermo on November 12 and 13 will aim to “identify the stages of a stabilisation process”, Italian Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi told the Senate.

The meeting would drive towards “a common solution, even if there are differences of opinion between the parties involved”, he said.

Four key leaders from Libya agreed at a conference in Paris in May to hold landmark polls on December 10 as part of a French-led plan to stabilise the crisis-hit country despite ongoing violence and deep divisions.

France, however, has faced opposition to the election timetable from the United States along with other European Union countries, notably Italy.

Milanesi said he had received “confirmation of interest” in the conference from Libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar as well as support from the US, and was planning on discussing the dossier with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Monday.

“No deadlines will be imposed on the Libyans, nor tasks dictated,” Milanesi said.

Italy, a key supporter of the UN-backed government of Fayez al-Sarraj in Tripoli, said in September it wants to “maintain an active dialogue” with all well-intentioned actors in Libya.

The Libyan capital has been at the centre of a battle for influence between armed groups since dictator Moamer Kadhafi was driven from power and killed in a 2011 NATO-backed uprising.

Sarraj's Government of National Accord has been unable to form a functioning army or regular security forces and has been forced to rely on militias to keep Tripoli safe.

Militias formed the backbone of the uprising that toppled Kadhafi.

Since then rival administrations, including one allied with Haftar and based in the remote east, and the militias have competed for authority and oil wealth in the North African country.

Accused by his opponents of wanting to establish a new military dictatorship, Haftar refuses to recognise the authority of Sarraj's Tripoli-based GNA.

READ MORE: