Merkel reaffirms to Haftar: "No military solution in Libya"
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) – During her meeting with the chief of the Libyan National Army based in eastern Libya, Marshall Khalifa Haftar, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, on Tuesday in Berlin reaffirmed that "the ceasefire and the progress for the political process are necessary", saying "there is no military solution to the Libyan crisis", eleven months after the military offensive against Tripoli.
That assertion by Mrs Merkel was reported in a declaration made by the German government spokesperson, at the end of the talks between Chancellor Merkel and Marshall Khalifa Haftar on the Libyan crisis.
"Chancellor Merkel confirmed that there is no military solution to the conflict and that the ceasefire and progress in the political process are necessary for that reason", said the spokesperson for the government in a communiqué made public on Tuesday.
Having sponsored the Berlin conference on Libya held on 19 January which results were approved in the 2510 Resolution of the UN Security Council, Angela Merkel remained faithful to her role aiming to see to the implementation of the Berlin conference.
It is worth pointing out that the commitments made during the Berlin process are related to the respect by the 12 countries interested in the Libyan affairs - the arm embargo, the cessation of interference s in the country’s home affairs and the need to abstain from any action likely to continue fuelling the tension and encouraging the military escalation.
The Berlin conference helped to launch the Geneva process that includes three paths of dialogue related to economy, military and politics.
The persistence of interference and the non-respect of the Berlin commitments led to the failure of those paths for inter-Libyan talks sponsored by the United-Nations, provoking the resignation of the UN envoy, Ghassan Salamé.
That resignation plunged Libya into a new deadlock with the full suspension of the meetings initiated within the framework of the three paths.
This situation encourages the continuation of the violations of the truce of January 12 with daily shots of Grad missiles and other shells on residential districts the first of which dates back to Tuesday on the Abu Slim zone in southern Tripoli.
Marshall Haftar on Monday met in Paris with French president, Emmanuel Macron, at Elysee, promising that he will only sign a ceasefire deal if the armed groups backing the Government of National Accord, recognized by the international community, respects it.
The two men also "discussed the latest developments in the fight against terrorism and illegal immigration", according to a publication made by the press office of the General Commandment of the Libyan National Army.
Haftar's visit is within the framework of France’s attempt to resume its role of mediator between Libyan protagonists in the search for solution to the Libyan crisis.
The Interior minister of the Government of National Accord, Fathi Bachagha, is expected this March in France also to meet with French officials.
-0- PANA BY/IS/MSA/VAO 10March2020
