US ambassador in Libya agrees with speaker of parliament on need to respect democratic process

02 Mai 2020

Tripoli, Libya, May 2 (Infosplusgabon) - The US ambassador in Libya, Richard Norland, said here Friday he agreed with the president of the Libyan House of Representatives (Parliament), Aguila Saleh, on the need to respect the democratic process and “avoid individual attempts to unilaterally impose the future of Libya by the force of weapons".

A statement issued by the US embassy said Norland and Saleh, during talks, stressed "there is no military solution in Libya”.

They also rejected the imposition of the accomplished fact and stressed the importance to carry on with the negotiations under the aegis of the United-Nations.

The statement indicated that the speaker of the Libyan parliament underlined the importance of joint and constructive communication between Libya and the United-States.

On Monday, the chief of the Libyan national army, Marshall Khalifa Haftar, announced his acceptance of the ‘popular mandate’ given him by Libyans to govern the country.

He announced his rejection of the Libyan political agreement signed in the Moroccan city of Skhirat in 2015 between the Libyan protagonists under the aegis of the United-Nations.

The two parties underlined the need for all participants in the Berlin Conference to fulfill their obligations not to intervene militarily in Libya, said the statement.

The speaker of the Libyan parliament, Saleh, said "he had stressed in his initiative launched days ago the end of the fighting between the Libyans".

Saleh last week announced a political initiative in eight points that focused on the re-organisation of the current executive from the Skhirat political deal and the choice of its members in the three Libyan historic regions of Cyrenaic, Tripoli and Fezzan and the re-writing of the constitution until the holding of new parliamentary elections.

The US ambassador underlined the "importance of the fight against terrorism and warned against the danger of the continuation of the armed conflict which would create an atmosphere favorable for the grouping of terrorist organizations in all Libya".

Concerning the appeal launched by the "Libyan Arab forces" for a ceasefire during the holy month of Ramadan, Norland expressed the hope that "on the basis of that declaration, the two parties will take serious measures for the future of Libyans and resume negotiations under the aegis of the United-Nations for permanent ceasefire as agreed within the framework of the mechanism of the 5+5 committee talks in Geneva on 23 February".

The US ambassador declared that "the United-States encourage all voices truly attached to peace and stability in Libya to participate in shaping the country’s political future".

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/MPO/GABON2020

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