Members of Libyan Dialogue Forum call on UN Security Council to prevent foreign armed presence in Libya

CAIRO -3 January 2020: Members of the Libyan Dialogue Forum called on the United Nations Security Council to prevent all forms of foreign armed presence and expel mercenaries and foreign bases from Libya.

In a statement published by Africa News, 36 out of 74 members called on all Libyan political elites to work together to find consensual political solutions to preserve Libya's unity, sovereignty, and stability.

The members referred to the negative effects of various forms of foreign interference in Libya's affairs, which led to the flow of weapons and mercenaries into the country in violation of international resolutions.

They demanded the formation of a committee to provide the conditions and requirements for comprehensive national reconciliation, as a priority for the new executive authority program, to achieve reconciliation with the rights of the displaced and refuges to ensure their participation in the elections, according to the necessary procedures.

They also stressed the need for the participation of Senates and Sheikhs in all electoral districts under the auspices and assistance of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), demanding support, encouragement, and adoption of the outcomes of the Libyan political dialogue to reach constitutional legitimacy through the completion of specific presidential and parliamentary elections.

The signatories to the statement called on the prospective executive authority in Libya to work hard to end the manifestations of division, unify institutions, to respect the dates agreed upon in the proposed specific texts of the initial stage roadmap, and to abide by what was stated in it.

Since January, Turkey has been transporting Syrian mercenaries into the North African state and has dispatched armed officers and experts to command the operations rooms of the militias affiliated to the Government of National Accord (GNA).

Oil-rich Libya has been mired in chaos since the ouster and killing of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. It now has two rival authorities and a multitude of militias vying for control of the country.

The country’s internationally recognized government is based in Tripoli, while Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the Libyan National Army, is supported by a parallel administration based in the east.