BERLIN – World powers and other countries with an interest in Libya’s protracted civil war on Sunday agreed to honor a much-breached arms embargo, suspending military assistance to warring parties. and push them to achieve a complete ceasefire, Germany and the UN. leaders said.
The deal came after about four hours of negotiations at the chancellor in Berlin. German Chancellor Angela Merkel hosted the leaders of 11 countries, with two of Libya’s main rival leaders also in the German capital but not at the main conference table.
The organizers know that “we must succeed in calling all parties involved in the conflict in Libya to speak with one voice… because then the parties within Libya will also understand that there is only one solution. demilitarized law,” Merkel said. “We achieved this result here.”
Libya has sunk deeper into chaos since the 2011 overthrow and killing of its longtime dictator, Moammar Gadhafi. It is now divided into rival administrations, each supported by different countries: a United Nations-recognized government based in Tripoli, led by Sarraj, and one based in the east. of the country, supported by Hifter’s forces.
Hifter’s forces have been on the offensive since April, besieging Tripoli in an attempt to capture the capital. Hifter’s forces are supported by Egypt, Russia and the United Arab Emirates, while the Tripoli government has turned to Turkey for troops and weapons.
A truce brokered by Russia and Turkey earlier this month marked the first break in fighting in months, but there have been multiple violations.
Among those attending Sunday were Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Participants agreed that “we want to respect the arms embargo and the arms embargo will be more tightly controlled than was the case in the past,” Merkel said. She added that the outcome of the conference should be endorsed by the United Nations Security Council.
Libya’s two main rival leaders, Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj and General Khalifa Hifter, each appointed five members of a military commission to represent them at negotiations for a more permanent ceasefire. , Ms. Merkel said.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the commission would be convened “in Geneva in the coming days.”
Ms. Merkel said summit participants had agreed that they would not provide further support to the warring parties in Libya prior to the committee meeting and “cease activities as long as the ceasefire remains in place”.
However, there is no clear commitment to withdrawing existing military assistance. “It’s a question of a real ceasefire,” Merkel said.
She said the conference did not discuss specific sanctions for violating the arms embargo.
The summit’s final statement said the participants “call on all parties to refrain from any activity that exacerbates conflict or is inconsistent with the (UN) arms embargo or cease-fire, including funding military capabilities or recruiting mercenaries.”
Guterres said the Berlin conference had succeeded in countering “the real danger of escalation in the region”.
“That risk was averted in Berlin – provided that the truce could be maintained and then moved to a ceasefire,” he said.
Guterres stressed the urgency of that next step, saying all participants pledged to “put pressure on the parties to achieve a complete ceasefire”.
“We can’t monitor something that doesn’t exist,” Guterres said.
Ms. Merkel added that the participants will continue to hold meetings more often to ensure this process continues “so that the people in Libya have the right to a peaceful life”.
Sarraj and Hifter did not meet in person in Berlin.
“We have spoken to them privately because the difference between them is so great that they are not talking to each other at the moment,” Merkel said.
The two men were not directly involved in the conference, but were in Berlin and monitoring developments, she added.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that “we know that today’s signature is not enough.”
He said countries that were not invited on Sunday will have the opportunity to participate in future meetings of the four committees dealing with different aspects of the crisis, including military and economic issues. economic.
“We know that the work has just begun,” Maas said.
On Sunday, the Libyan National Oil Corporation said that guards under the command of Hifter forces had closed two important oil fields in the southwestern desert of the country, after all ports were exported. The eastern border was closed earlier. The group said only foreign mines and a smaller facility are still operating.
Guterres said he was “very worried” about oil developments. Germany’s Maas said that he and Merkel discussed the blocked terminals with Sarraj and Hifter.
He added: “Both sides said they were prepared in principle to find a solution to the issue, but ‘it depends on different conditions’.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying the conference was “very useful”.
“I think we’ve made progress – at least in terms of getting fewer new weapons systems, fewer new forces pouring into the region so we can at least stalemate,” Pompeop said. ‘, allowing the opportunity to work towards a political solution.
However, the Berlin agreement was immediately met with some skepticism.
“This is all very good talk and optics, but there is still no enforcement mechanism in place to actively prevent it,” said Anas Gamati, founder of a Tripoli-based think tank, the Sadeq Institute. a country that violates an arms embargo.
Claudia Gazzini, a Libya analyst with the International Crisis Group, said the idea of a “military commission” is new and certainly a step up from where we were in Moscow last week,” when Hifter broke out. abruptly left, refusing to formally sign an armistice under Turkish and Russian pressure.
“But in Libya, committees tend to become synonymous with procrastination,” she added. “I think there will be a lot of skill.”
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Associated Press journalist Isabel DeBre in Cairo contributed to this report.
Frank Jordans and Geir Moulson, Associated Press
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