Egyptian president al-Sissi announces 'initiative' to resolve Libyan criris

06 Juin 2020

Tripoli, Libya, June 6 (Infosplusgabon) - Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi has announced what hw called the "Cairo Declaration" to resolve the Libyan crisis.

This was with the consent of the Speaker of the House of Representatives in Libya (Parliament), Aguila Saleh, and the head of the Libyan National Army (LNA) based in the east, Marshal Khalifa Haftar.

The declaration, among other things, calls for the proclamation of a ceasefire on 8 June, 2020, and the election of a Presidential Council by Libyans under the supervision of the United Nations.

This initiative comes at a time when the Haftar camp has suffered a heavy defeat in its war to capture Tripoli after with a series of setbacks which has forced the withdrawal of its troops to the east of the country with the impossibility of the takeover of the Libyan capital.

The initiative presented by the Egyptian president also includes the withdrawal of foreign mercenaries from Libyan territory, the dismantling of militias and the handing over of their weapons, so that the Libyan army can carry out its security tasks.

It also calls for the continuation of the work of the 5 + 5 Joint Military Commission under the aegis of the United Nations.

Political, security and economic talks are among the points of the initiative which underlines that the elections which will lead to a new Presidential Council elected by the Libyan people must guarantee the equitable representation of the three regions of Libya.

The initiative stipulates the need to adopt a Constitutional Declaration regulating the next step and its electoral agendas.

al Sissi, in a joint press briefing with Mr. Saleh and Marshal Haftar, said that Egypt rejects the military option to resolve the Libyan crisis, stressing that all recent escalations by countries "are predicting dire consequences for the entire region, so that there can be no stability and a peaceful settlement of the crisis".

He also stressed "the need for a fair and transparent distribution of Libyan wealth to all citizens", noting this wealth must not be used against the Libyan state.

The Egyptian president reiterated that "the stability of Libya is an integral part of the stability of Egypt".

It is noted that the Egyptian president is one of Haftar's main allies alongside the United Arab Emirates, Russia and France.

As a result this position, his mediation lacks credibility for lack of his neutrality in the conflict.

Throughout his rotating presidency in 2019 at the African Union (AU), he took no initiative to resolve the crisis. He refused to meet with the camp of the Government of National Accord (GNA) and boycotted a meeting of the Contact Group on Libya in Niamey, Niger.

For his part, Mr. Saleh declared that the initiative of the "Cairo Declaration" provided for the formation of an executive power (a presidential council) composed of a president, two vice-presidents and a separate Prime Minister, provided that the mandate of the Presidential Council is one-and-a-half-years and can be extended for six months.

He added, at a press conference in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, with President al-Sissi and Marshal Haftar, that "this initiative has been approved by the Security Council because it is one of the recommendations of the Berlin Conference, as well as its conformity with the aspirations of the Libyan people and the Constitution".

He said a constitution will be drawn up after which presidential and parliamentary elections will take place.

The move "does not mean that the military will not fight terrorism, but rather insist on eradicating terrorism until Libyan institutions be unified," Mr. Saleh added

The president of the Libyan Parliament based in Tobruk in the east had presented an initiative to restructure the Presidential Council with a president and two vice-presidents elected from the three historic regions of Libya (Cyrenaica, Tripolitania and Fezzan) with the maintenance of the current Parliament until general elections are held. This initiative attracted the support of a fringe of Libyans and foreign countries.

For his part, Marshal Haftar appreciated the initiative of the "Cairo Declaration" to resolve the Libyan crisis announced by President al-Sissi.

He stressed that his vision for solving the Libyan crisis is "to get rid of Turkish interference in the Libyan file and form a new Presidential Council, as well as a government of national accord responsible for providing the best level of services to citizens after its approval by the House of Representatives".

Turkey supports the Tripoli-based GNA and its decisive intervention in recent weeks in the war has driven Haftar from Tripoli and several cities in the west of the country.

Haftar also stressed the need to end the division between the various institutions in Libya, in particular the existence of two Libyan central banks, the National Petroleum Company and the Libyan Investment Authority, "in a way which ensures the equitable distribution of the wealth to Libyans".

He also stressed the need to invite all Libyans to participate in an internal dialogue which will start "immediately", and will include tribal leaders, notables and young people and in which women will also be represented.

He stressed, however, the need to exclude armed militias from any political solution to the crisis.

After losing momentum, with his dream of occupying Tripoli and overthrowing the internationally recognised GNA had evaporated following the loss of Sabratha and Sorman, as well as the Al-Wattia air base, he announced that he had received a mandate from Libyans to lead the country.  At that moment he proclaimed the abandonment of the Libyan Political Agreement of Skhirat in Morocco, which embodies the legitimacy of the current Libyan institutions.

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/POL/GABON2020

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