France expected to push the Libyan crisis onto the G7 agenda
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) – French president, Emmanuel Macron is expected to table the Libyan crisis at the 45th summit of the Group of Seven (G7 – Germany, Canada, USA, France, Italy, Japan and United-Kingdom) which opened in the French city of Biarritz on Sunday.
According to observers, the French president is working hard to raise the Libyan issue before his peers to support the efforts of the special representative of the UN Secretary General, Ghassan Salamé to find political solution to the Libyan crisis.
Convinced that a military option cannot resolve the Libyan crisis, Mr Macron, who is very knowledgeable about the Libyan dossier in which he is deeply involved since his accession to power, will work to strengthen the out-of-crisis support plan proposed recently by Mr Salamé, focusing particularly on an international meeting between countries involved in the Libyan dossier.
According to the second point of this out-of-crisis plan, after the humanitarian truce observed on 11 August on the occasion of the Eid al-Adha, this international Libyan conference will serve as an opportunity to relaunch the political process by urging countries having influence on Libyan belligerents to put pressure on them to accept a negotiated solution.
It is worth pointing out that the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and France are known backers of Khalifa Haftar, leader of the Libyan National Army (LNA) while Turkey, Qatar and Italy back the camp of the Presidential Council of the internationally recognised Government of National Accord with Fayez al-Sarraj as Prime Minister.
Analysts say that the international meeting on Libya will serve as an opportunity to urge those countries to cease their interference, especially the violation of the arms embargo imposed by the UN Security Council since 2011.
Recently, Mr Salamé said that the fighting in Tripoli that broke out on 4 April when Haftar and the forces attacked Tripoli, where the GNA has its headquarters, has so far claimed the lives for 1,200 people, including about 200 civilians and wounding 6,000 others, in addition to 120,000 displaced in the fighting zones.
The question is whether France, after the discovery of UN made Javelin anti-tank missiles in the pro-Haftar camp in Gharyan, 80 km from Tripoli, when the GNA troops retook it on 27 June, can still play a useful key role in the Libyan dossier.
Actually, the camp of the GNA has lost confidence in the role France is playing as a mediator. France has been accused of playing a double game by Italy which has criticised Paris of acting behind to extend its influence by helping LNA militarily.
The UN envoy in Libya, has increased his trips over the past few days to mobilise support for his plan.
After a meeting in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the UN envoy travelled to the Maltese capital, La Valetta, to meet with the country’s officials and seek support for the implementation of his out-of-crisis plan.
At the local level, the deputy representative of the UN Secretary General for political affairs, Stéphanie Williams, has intensified the contacts with the Libyan protagonists to promote the third point of the out-of-crisis plan related to a meeting between Libyans to complete the political process.
At the military level, the armed clashes are continuing near Tripoli, particularly the intensification of the use of jet fighters and heavy gunfire with the targeting again of Maitigua airport at the eastern suburb of the capital, which was again hit on Saturday by a missile, causing a suspension of air flights.
The deadlock in the political process and the absence of perspectives are push belligerents towards military clashes that have intensified over the past few days.
-0- PANA BY/BEH/MSA/MA 25Aug2019
