Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Berlin Conference on Libya to Kick Off.. Here's What on Table


Sun 19 Jan 2020 | 08:00 AM
Yassmine Elsayed

Russian "TASS" news agency revealed that the Berlin conference on Libya would suggest six aspects for solving the crisis along with an international mechanism to implement them.

According to a draft for the final statement of the Berlin conference, of which the agency has seen a copy, the six proposed courses of action are a ceasefire, the implementation of an arms embargo, the resumption of the political process, the state monopoly of arms, the implementation of economic reforms and respect for humanitarian law.

With regard to the ceasefire, the statement calls for a "ceasefire by all parties, including operations involving the use of aircraft over the territory of Libya," and the United Nations would monitor the implementation of the armistice.

The document also calls for a halt to all transfers of forces, of and for, the warring parties in reference to Turkey's deployment of troops to Libya in support of Al-Wefaq government.

On the other hand, the document also stipulates that conference participants pledge to comply fully and unconditionally with Security Council resolutions related to the arms embargo, and they call on the Security Council to impose sanctions on countries that violate the arms embargo and the ceasefire agreement.

The aspect of the political process requires the formation of an effective presidential council and the formation of a single, unified, comprehensive, and effective Libyan government, to be approved by the House of Representatives.

The statement also requests the Security Council, the African Union, the European Union and the League of Arab States to take action against those who obstruct the political process, and stresses the importance of the role played by neighboring countries in ensuring stability in Libya.

The joint statement draft indicates the need for security sector reform in Libya. “We call for the restoration of the state’s monopoly on the legal use of force,” it says.

In the draft also, the participants in the summit also express their support for the establishment of the unified Libyan armed forces, national security forces and the police, subject to the central civil authorities, based on the talks held in Cairo and the documents and their outputs.

In addiiton to the structural reforms in the economy, the last aspect stresses the importance of improving the performance of judicial institutions, putting an end to arbitrary arrests and releasing all those illegally detained.

The document suggests the creation of a mechanism under the auspices of the United Nations, pided into two parts, the first of which is monthly meetings held by high-level representatives from the mediating countries in settling the Libyan crisis with a report on the results of each meeting, while the second section will be in the form of working groups that meet twice a month in Libya or Tunisia.

After its adoption at the Berlin conference, the final statement is supposed to be referred to the Security Council.