Libya is struggling to find its way back to peace and stability. Nearly 13 years after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in October 2011, the country is sinking into instability, with the increased risk of renewed armed clashes between the two camps vying for power.
A prospect that worries its neighbor Algeria. This Monday, Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf received in Algiers Stéphanie Koury, the deputy special representative for political affairs at the United Nations Support Mission in Libya.
During this meeting, Ahmed Attaf reiterated Algeria’s support for the UN’s efforts to find a solution to the Libyan crisis and pointed out foreign interference as the main obstacle to a political solution in Libya.
“The long period of the Libyan crisis is entirely linked to the increase and complexity of foreign interference in the affairs of this country,” the head of Algerian diplomacy maintained before the UN Representative.
Libya is divided into two camps: the eastern part of the country, where Marshal Haftar reigns with the support of Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
And the camp in western Libya where the government recognized by the UN is based and which benefits in particular from the military support of Turkey.
Crisis in Libya: Algeria reveals its vision
“Therefore, the key to resolving this crisis lies mainly in the departure and end of these interferences, in all its forms, political, military and security,” explained Ahmed Attaf who reiterated Algeria’s call for “all foreign parties to leave Libya” and to “put an end to the policies, practices and actions that fuel division and widen the gap between the peoples of a single homeland.”
Then, Ahmed Attaf set four “major priorities” on which Algeria believes it must focus in the current period.
Avoid making the electoral process in Libya an “end in itself”. The objective remains “more global and broader”. The success of this process, as important as it is, depends on the progress made in the preparation, which must be carried out in the most optimal way, according to Attaf.
The importance of maintaining the ceasefire agreement in force in Libya and working to establish it. This agreement is undoubtedly the most important achievement obtained in recent years, and this is why efforts must be increased to preserve it and activate all its points in order to avoid any stagnation with unpredictable consequences, added Ahmed Attaf.
While we welcome initiatives that give priority to the resolution of the Libyan crisis, we stress the need for these proposals and processes to remain a support and backing for the UN effort, which remains the fundamental reference for the resolution of the Libyan crisis, said the head of Algerian diplomacy.
“Not to abandon” the Libyan national reconciliation project. Despite all the obstacles that have stood in the way of this reconciliation, this “project remains, in our eyes”, of “great importance”, because it will contribute “inevitably” and “without a doubt” to the crystallization of a global and unifying platform for all Libyans. A platform that will distance them from the division and the logic of the victors and the vanquished, he said finally.
