WORLD POWERS REACH DEAL ON LIBYA

MERKEL SAYS WORLD POWERS AGREE TO HONOUR ARMS EMBARGO ON LIBYA

Global powers agreed yesterday to strengthen an arms embargo on Libya and shore up a shaky ceasefire. UAE said it supports achieving security and stability in Libya, which is based on non-interference in its internal affairs. |

World leaders meeting in Berlin agreed to work toward a more durable ceasefire in Libya’s civil war, which has seen Russia and Turkey giving military support to different groups as countries outside Libya jockey for access to its key energy supplies.

Eastern commander Khalifa Haftar, who is backed by Russia but walked out of truce talks in Moscow last week, and Libya’s internationally recognised Prime Minister Fayaz Al Sarraj will now put forward five names from each side to hash out the terms of a more permanent truce, with the United Nations pushing for a meeting of that committee in Geneva within days.

Still, some five hours of formal discussion in Germany yesterday also reflected the fragility of any truce. Haftar has led a months-long assault on Tripoli, and even yesterday a spokesman for Al Sarraj’s government said fighting had again erupted in a suburb south of the capital.

Neither Al Sarraj nor Haftar were in the room for the summit, and organisers were careful to ensure they did not cross paths in Berlin. Instead they were holed up for some of the day at separate hotels in the city.

Oil exports blocked

Ahead of the Berlin conference, supporters of Haftar moved to block oil exports at ports under his control, slashing Libya’s output by more than half. Al Sarraj deemed that show of force a sign Haftar isn’t ready for peace.

Yesterday’s meeting was called with the aim of ending foreign intervention in Libya’s civil war and violations of the UN arms embargo. If Haftar, who has led a months long assault on the capital, Tripoli, relents and signs the truce deal alongside Turkey-backed Al Sarraj, the next phase would involve Libyan officials working to unite the country’s institutions and hold elections for the first time since 2014.

“I’m not under any illusion that this won’t be a difficult path,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters. She met separately with Haftar and Al Sarraj before the conference officially began.

No military support

Merkel said the leaders who attended — they included Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — agreed not to provide more military support to those inside Libya, and to work toward a political solution. And she said a fair distribution of Libya’s oil revenues would be part of any peace process.

Failure to get Haftar completely on board risks seeing the holder of Africa’s largest proven oil reserves spiral into a major conflagration drawing in regional and international powers further, as happened in Syria.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he expected the military officials from the warring sides to meet “in the next few days.”

AFP ■ Emmanuel Macron shakes hands with Vladimir Putin before the Peace summit on Libya at the Chancellery in Berlin yesterday as other world leaders watch. The world leaders agreed to respect an arms embargo on Libya.

Reuters British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi, Algerian President Abdul Madjid Tebboune and UAE Foreign Minister Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan with other dignitaries in Berlin yesterday.

AFP Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed greets US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ahead of the peace summit in Berlin.