UPDATES WITH PARTICIPATION BY EGYPT, TUNISIA
By Jihad Nasr and Adel al-Thabti
TRIPOLI/CAIRO (AA) - Thirteen councils and armed groups based in western Libya have voiced their rejection of a French initiative ostensibly aimed at achieving reconciliation between Libya’s rival political camps.
The French government has invited 19 countries to attend a Tuesday summit in Paris with a view to finding a political solution to the North African country’s seven-year political crisis.
In a joint statement, 13 armed groups and military councils based in western Libya -- including some loyal to the UN-backed unity government based in Tripoli -- voiced their rejection of the planned summit.
Signatories stated their rejection of “any initiative aimed at consolidating military rule in [Libya] and which does not take Libyan military law into consideration… and which does not promote a civil state or the peaceful rotation of power”.
The groups go on to state their rejection of any agreements that might be concluded during the summit.
They also expressed their readiness to host a separate initiative in western Libya with a view to fostering “genuine dialogue aimed at meeting the aspirations of all of Libyan society, safeguarding Libya’s territorial integrity and resisting foreign interference”.
The groups further state their support for any initiative that gives priority to ending conflict in the country, going on to urge the UN to maintain neutrality when dealing with the Libyan file.
Paris has invited 19 countries -- including the UN Security Council’s five permanent members, Italy, Turkey, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, Chad, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait -- to attend Tuesday’s summit at the Elysee Palace.
On Monday, Aguila Saleh, head of the Libyan House of Representatives, and Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar, who is supported by the Tobruk-based assembly, both headed to Paris to attend the summit.
Libya’s Tripoli-based High Council of State, meanwhile, has also conditionally agreed to send representatives.
Egypt, for its part, announced Monday that it, too, would take part in Tuesday’s conference.
According to an Egyptian Foreign Ministry statement, former Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab, who currently serves as presidential advisor for strategic affairs, will represent Egypt at the event.
The same statement stressed Egypt’s desire “to reach an immediate settlement of the Libya crisis in a way that serves the interests of our Libyan brothers and restores security and stability in Libya”.
Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi is also slated to participate in the event at the invitation of French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.
According to a Monday statement released by the Tunisian presidency, Essebsi will deliver an address at the summit in which he will lay out Tunisia’s stance on the crisis in Libya and proposals for reaching a political settlement.
The Paris initiative calls for the “unification” of both the Libyan central bank and the country’s army, along with elections sometime later this year to be followed by a constitutional referendum.