Sudan regrets that Libya’s neighbours were not invited to Berlin conference
Berlin hosted on Sunday a meeting for the leaders of Algeria, Britain, China, Egypt, France, Italy, Russia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and the U.S. to discuss ways to end fighting between the north African nation’s warring factions
The meeting was also attended by the two rivals: General Khalifa Haftar, of the Libyan National Army (LNA) and Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, head of Libya’s UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA).
Sudan, Chad, Tunisia and Niger were not invited to the meeting which aimed at ending foreign interferences in the conflict after Turkey’s recent decision to deploy troops in support of the GNA.
However, the Sudanese government which in the past took part in the meetings on Libya issued a strongly worded statement to denounce its exclusion.
“Sudan has been convinced that the neighbouring countries of Libya have a fundamental role in helping to reach a peaceful solution to the crisis in Libya because their security and stability are part of Libya’s security and stability,” said the foreign ministry in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune.
The participation of the neighbouring countries was required to ensure the success of the conference but there were no clear criteria for selecting the participants, further said the Sudanese foreign ministry.
The meeting agreed to uphold the UN arms embargo and to stop military support to the conflicting parties in Libya.
“We all agree that we should respect the arms embargo and that the arms embargo should be controlled more strongly than it has been in the past,” announced the German Prime Minister Angela Merkel
The meeting also agreed to set out international plans to monitor the implementation of the arms embargo and foreign troops and fighters who come almost from neighbouring countries.
(ST)