A second conference on Libya was held again on Wednesday in Berlin, 18 months after the previous one, with some twenty countries and international organizations, including the transitional government, in place since the spring in Tripoli. Two goals were on the menu, the election scheduled for the end of December and the withdrawal of foreign forces. In this second file, progress has been announced.
as reported from Berlin, Pascal Thibault
“All foreign forces and mercenaries must be withdrawn without delay.” The press release published after the conference is clear and reiterates the terms of the previous meeting in January 2020 as those taken during the ceasefire agreement between the two camps in attendance this autumn. So many commitments that have not been followed up. A footnote to the press release states that Turkey reserves this wording.
Transitional Foreign Minister Najlaal-Mangoushannounced, however, a concrete step forward: “We hope that the mercenaries from both sides will be withdrawn in the coming days, an encouraging sign that will be followed by other steps.”
The German Foreign Minister, whose country is hosting a meeting on Libya for the second time, welcomed this concrete progress, the raison d’être, confirming that elections were held at the end of December for the Berlin Conference. Heiko Maas made it clear that the withdrawal of mercenaries must respect the delicate balance between the two camps: “This withdrawal must be done gradually and in a balanced way between the parties involved. If one of them quickly withdrew his forces and the other did not, it would create a situation where an actor would have military superiority that could give him bad ideas. ”
The UN estimates that about 20,000 foreign soldiers and mercenaries are in Libya.
►Also read:Berlin: 2nd International Conference on Libya to consolidate recent progress
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