Germany to host meet to sort out Libya mess
berlin — Berlin will host world leaders for a UN-sponsored summit on the conflict in Libya on Sunday, the German government confirmed on Tuesday. Representatives from 11 countries — including the US, Russia, France, China and Turkey — have been invited for the talks.
It remained unclear whether the leaders of the two warring factions, the internationally recognised Prime Minister Fayez Al Sarraj and rebel strongman General Khalifa Haftar, would attend. Both have been invited. “The aim of this process is... to support the efforts of the UN for a sovereign Libya and for the reconciliation process within Libya,” Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office said. There had already been “several rounds of talks on Libya among high level officials” in the German capital in recent months, it said. —
moscow — Russia sought on Tuesday to downplay the collapse of talks that sought to secure a cease-fire in Libya after the country’s rival leaders left Moscow without reaching an agreement, an outcome that cast a shadow on an upcoming Libya summit hosted by Germany.
Russia and Turkey proposed a cease-fire last week in hopes of bringing an end to the country’s long-running civil war. Fayez Sarraj, the head of Libya’s UN-recognised government in Tripoli, and Gen. Khalifa Haftar, came to Moscow on Monday for talks with Russian and Turkish diplomats and military officials.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sought to downplay the talks’ failure, saying that efforts to broker a peace deal will continue.
“We all work in the same direction and urge all the sides (of the conflict) in Libya to negotiate instead of trying to sort things out violently,” Lavrov said on Tuesday in Sri Lanka.
Russia’s Defence Ministry put out a statement saying that Gen. Haftar could still sign the proposed draft, but he needed some extra time to discuss it with his associates.
“Marshal Haftar had a positive view of the final statement, but requested two days to discuss the document with the tribal leaders before signing it,” it said. —