After a summit in Berlin that took place on 19 January, world leaders have pledged not to interfere in Libya’s ongoing civil conflict, and have vowed to uphold a UN arms embargo. Alongside Mrs Merkel, attendees included Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Representatives from the UAE, Algeria, China, the Republic of the Congo, the United Nations, European Union and African Union were also present.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also agreed to uphold the arms embargo just weeks after Turkey’s parliament approved deploying troops to western Libya. Turkey has already started to move some of its proxies in Northern Syria, mainly the Free Syrian Army forces equipped and trained by Turkey, to Tripoli by promising high salaries ($1500 monthly) and allegedly Turkish citizenship after fighting more than six-months according to an article from The Investigative Journal (TIJ) written by Ahmet Yayla. A source told TIJ contributor Lindsey Snell in January that a TFSA commander was offering $100 to each mercenary who refers someone willing to go to Libya.
Underlining the stakes involved, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said “Europe and those players who are influential” in the region have all been called to Berlin, because “we have to make sure Libya doesn’t become a second Syria”. “The conference can be the first step to peace for Libya,” Maas told Bild newspaper.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that major powers are “fully committed” to a peaceful resolution in Libya.
Boris Johnson said according to BBC, as he arrived at the summit on Sunday, “The people of Libya have suffered enough. It’s time for the country to move forward.”
Libya has been wracked by conflict since the 2011 uprising which ousted long-time strongman Muammar Gaddafi. Gen Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) controls much of eastern Libya, and last April he launched an offensive against the country’s rival, the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in the capital, Tripoli.
His forces have so far been unable to take the city, but earlier this month the LNA captured the country’s third-biggest city, Sirte. According to the UN, the fighting has killed hundreds of people and displaced thousands more from their homes.
A truce was announced earlier this month between Gen Haftar and the GNA, led by Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj but both sides blame each other for reported breaches of the agreement, and attempts to broker a lasting ceasefire broke down last week at a summit in Moscow.
Eight years of insecurity in Libya has resulted in 241,000 boys and girls in urgent need of life-saving humanitarian assistance throughout the country. In total, 880,000 people are in need as of December 2019 according to ReliefWeb.
The human toll, Mr. Guterres told the assembled delegates at the summit in Berlin, has been severe, with international humanitarian law defied on multiple occasions:
“More than 220 schools in Tripoli are closed, depriving 116,000 children of their basic human right to an education. Migrants and refugees, trapped in detention centres near the fighting, have also been affected and continue to suffer in horrendous conditions. This terrible situation cannot be allowed to continue”.
Reiterating his belief that there is no military solution in Libya, the UN chief issued a reminder of the dangerous consequences of a full-blown civil war which, he said, could lead to a “humanitarian nightmare”, and leave the country vulnerable to permanent division.
At the end of the summit, the participants pledged to “urge all parties in Libya to fully respect international humanitarian law and human rights law” and called for an “end to the practice of arbitrary detention”. They also urged the Libyan authorities to “gradually close the detention centres for migrants and asylum seekers”.
After the conference, Mr Guterres announced that all the participants had pledged not to interfere in the conflict, and to respect a UN arms embargo and he called on all Libyan parties to take part in a “Libyan-owned and Libyan-led dialogue”, under the auspices of the UN, to pave the way for a political solution to the crisis.
“We will stand with the Libyan people as they work to resolve their differences through discussion and compromise in good faith”, concluded the Secretary-General, “and chart a way to a more peaceful future”.