They insist on respect for sovereignty, trust in the electoral ‘road map’, the departure of foreign forces
MADRID, 12 Nov. (.) –
The international peace conference on Libya held this Friday in Paris has culminated with an appeal to the national integrity of the country and the achievement of the ‘road map’ towards the crucial December elections, with which Libya hopes to turn the page to years of war and division after the death of satrap Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
The Paris event has had a very broad international representation reflected in the presence of senior officials from the United States, China, Russia, the United Nations, the United Kingdom, the African Union, the European Union or the Arab League, and has tried to give a boost Libyan leaders, represented by the president of the Libyan Presidential Council, Mohamed Menfi, and the prime minister of the Government of National Unity, Mohamed Dbeibé, to guarantee the stability of the country after the December 24 elections.
Menfi and Dbeibé represent the institutional division that has marked the history of Libya during the last decade, and translated into a civil war between a government recognized by the international community in Tripoli and parallel authorities in the east of the country, commanded by Mr. the Khalifa Haftar war, with the vectors that accompany a conflict of these characteristics: international alliances, the presence of mercenaries and the constant arrival of weapons to the North African country.
The conference has addressed all these issues from crucial elections that will have as their primary objective the future unification of the country. “We reaffirm”, opens the final declaration, “our full respect and our commitment to the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and national unity of Libya.” The leaders also reject “any foreign interference in Libyan affairs.”
“We applaud,” they add, “the commitment of both the Presidential Council and the Government of National Unity, both in office, to guarantee the success of the political transition through the holding of these free, fair and transparent elections.”
In fact, the EU’s top diplomatic official, Josep Borrell, shortly afterwards stressed on his Twitter account the “two priorities of Libya: holding the elections and linking the security challenges to the total withdrawal of forces. foreign “.
International leaders have taken the opportunity to ask the Libyan authorities to “take specific measures to guarantee a substantial representation of women in the new legislature” and to “cooperate with civil institutions in these efforts”, always from the “respect for rights of his political opponents “and with a commitment to accept the results of the elections.
The leaders have not forgotten the very serious migration crisis that the country is going through, whose authorities have been accused of a lack of will when it comes to solving the mistreatment to which migrants who end up in their detention centers are subjected. In this sense, and although “they applaud the resumption of voluntary humanitarian evacuations and return flights for migrants and refugees,” they also ask the authorities for “full respect for the guidelines of International Law.”
The leaders also remind themselves of the need to “implement and defend any sanction against Libya”, in the event of a finding of the breaking of the arms embargo and the ceasefire in force in the country.
Finally, and in the economic sphere, international leaders underline the need for the Libyan authorities to unify the country’s Central Bank and apply “without delay” the recommendations of international financial audits, and to “respect and safeguard the integrity and the unit of both the Libyan financial institutions and the state oil company, the National Oil Corporation. “
In this sense, the international community concludes by expressing its concern “over the continuous attempts by armed groups” to exercise control over the aforementioned oil company, as well as over oil exports, and warns that “such actions could pose a threat to peace. , the security and stability of Libya. “