Libya summit opens in Berlin, seeking end to foreign meddling
Berlin, Germany - World leaders made a fresh push for peace in Libya at a summit in Berlin on Sunday, in a desperate bid to stop the conflict-wracked nation from turning into a ‘second Syria’.
The presidents of Russia, Turkey and France joined other global chiefs at the talks hosted by Chancellor Angela Merkel and held under the auspices of the United Nations. The summit’s main goal is to get foreign powers wielding influence in the region to stop interfering in the war - be it through weapons, troops or financing.
Leaders of both warring factions - strongman Khalifa Haftar and the head of Tripoli’s UNrecognised government Fayez al Sarraj - were also in Berlin for the first such gathering since 2018.
But pro-Haftar forces upped the ante ahead of the talks by blocking oil exports at Libya’s key ports, crippling the country’s main income source in protest at Turkey’s decision to send troops to shore up Sarraj’s Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA).
Ahead of the talks, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashed out at Haftar, saying he needed to drop his ‘hostile attitude’ if Libya is to have any chance at winning peace.
The flaring oil crisis underlined the devastating impact of foreign influence in the conflict, in which Sarraj’s GNA is backed by Turkey and Qatar while Haftar has the support of Russia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
“Libya needs all foreign interference to stop,” the United Nations’ special envoy Ghassan Salame said. The UN hopes all sides will sign up to a plan to refrain from interference, and commit to a truce that leads to a lasting end to hostilities, according to a draft of a final communique seen by AFP.