Arab League chief urges stopping foreign intervention in Libya

CAIRO - 19 January 2020: Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Sunday affirmed the need to stop foreign interventions in Libya, in order to reach a comprehensive political settlement in the war-torn country, Russia’s Sputnik reported.

In his speech at the Berlin summit on Libya, hosted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, urged the importance of reaching a fundamental solution to the issue of the spread of armed militias, in order for a ceasefire to succeed.

The continued presence of such groups represents a threat to the ceasefire and to the political process, Aboul Gheit said.

He also voiced the Arab League's rejection of sending terrorist elements and using foreign mercenaries in Libya, which only fuels the conflict and complicates the security situation.

Berlin conference on Libya Kicked off Sunday with the aim of concluding a truce between warring parties and paving the way for reconstruction under an elected civilian government.

The conference is attended by Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Khalifa Haftar, UN Envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame, Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi Algerian President Abdul Majeed Tebboune, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Abul Gheit.