African Union summit: Libya cease-fire needed now

By Addis Getachew

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AA) – The African Union’s top official for peace and security on Monday called for hostilities in Libya to halt at once.

“In Libya, we want an immediate cessation of hostilities and external interference. The arms embargo must be respected,” Smail Chergui told reporters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia after making a closed-door report to African leaders meeting at the union’s 33rd ordinary summit.

The union will “deploy observers and move its mission to Tripoli,” Libya’s capital and the seat of its UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA), he said.

The parties to the conflict, he said, “should respect the cessation of hostilities as well as the UN arms embargo.”

“The African Union welcomed the Berlin conference as it reflects our position, and we will work on expanding African Union and global cooperation,” he added, referring to a meeting in Germany last month to find a lasting cease-fire and solution in Libya.

Finding African solutions for African problems will remain a cornerstone of resolving conflicts on the continent, he said.

Chergui also said the conflict in Libya is growing more complicated, with “sophisticated” arms being smuggled to the Sahel region from Libya.

Since the ouster of late ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, two seats of power have emerged in Libya: warlord Khalifa Haftar in eastern Libya, supported mainly by Egypt and the UAE, and the Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli, which enjoys UN and international recognition.

Heads of state and government have been meeting since yesterday for the African Union meeting, mostly focusing on Africa’s security situation under the theme “Silencing the Guns.”

The leaders will wrap up their meeting later Monday with an official closing ceremony, but decisions are expected to come out later on in a communique.