The crisis in Libya has become a focus of attention at the regional and international levels; many Arab, and foreign countries are seeking to end the state of war at the North African country and rebuild its institutions by engaging the two warring parties there into political dialogues in order to remove all differences and prioritize the national interest.
Libya's peace talks in Morocco
Since the beginning of the Libyan crisis, the Kingdom of Morocco has played a very constructive role and contributed to the UN’s efforts to achieve a peaceful resolution to the Libyan conflict.
The Libyan political agreement signed in 2015 in Skhirat demonstrates Morocco’s firm commitment to find a solution to the Libyan crisis alongside the United Nations.
Today, it resumed the second round of inter-Libyan dialogue in Bouznika city in Rabat, nearly a month after the first round that brought the two Libyan parties together (from September 6 to 10). The talks resulted in a comprehensive agreement on the criteria and transparent and objective mechanisms for choosing who will assume the positions of sovereignty.
The two sides had agreed to continue this dialogue and to resume their meetings in order to complete the necessary measures that guarantee the application and activation of this agreement.
Following the first round of talks, Libya’s High Council of State and the Tobruk Parliament issued a joint statement describing the success of the dialogue and thanking Morocco and King Mohammed VI for the initiative.
Germany-led conference on Libya next Monday
Germany has long been calling for a complete settlement in Libya with a goal of restoring "a sovereign Libya" and achieving "inner-Libyan reconciliation process."
On 19 January 2020, the Berlin International Conference on Libya, at the invitation of Chancellor Angela Merkel, gathered a big number of world leaders to forge a consensus among concerned member states on the Libyan crisis and pave the way for and secure an international umbrella to protect intra-Libyan discussions over the future of the country.
Today, it has also announced that it will co-chair a ministerial meeting, on Monday, of world powers and other countries with interests in Libya's long-running civil war in hopes of promoting a cease-fire between its rival governments, according to Germany's deputy U.N. ambassador Gunter Sautter.
Sautter added that the General Assembly meeting will be headed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, and the German Foreign Minister, Heiko Maas.
Sautter told, "This meeting comes at a sensitive time, and with the recent encouraging developments in Libya," he hoped that a "strong message" would be issued on Monday.
He noted that, all countries that attended the Berlin summit in January, in addition to the countries of the region, will participate in the meeting. Libya's conflicting parties will not participate, he confirmed.
"We hope to stop the persistent and flagrant violations of the arms embargo. We also hope to strengthen the role of the United Nations as a central mediator in the political dialogue in Libya," Sautter explained.
The United Nations' efforts to limit illegal migration in Libya
On Friday, the U.N. Security Council unanimously extended a resolution authorizing member nations to inspect vessels on the high seas off the coast of Libya suspected of smuggling migrants or engaging in human trafficking from the north-African nation for another year.
It condemned all acts of migrant smuggling and human trafficking into, through and from the Libyan territory and off the coast of Libya, which undermine further the process of stabilization of Libya and endanger the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.
Most migrants make the perilous journey in ill-equipped and unsafe rubber boats. The International Office for Migration estimated in March that the death toll among migrants who tried to cross the Mediterranean had passed the “grim milestone” of 20,000 deaths since 2014.
Since the 2011 ouster and killing of Libya's longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi, the country has sunk further into chaos and turmoil. Libya is pided into rival administrations, each with the backing of different nations: the U.N.-recognized government based in Tripoli, headed by al-Sarraj, and one based in the country's east, supported by Haftar's forces.
Haftar's forces have been on the offensive since April, laying siege to Tripoli in an effort to capture the capital and battling militias aligned with the government. Haftar's forces are backed by Egypt, Russia and the United Arab Emirates, while the Tripoli government has turned to Turkey for troops and weapons.
Follow the latest news on Google News
