Libya.. US talks for the departure of foreign forces and the postponement of opening the coastal road between east and west

Stumbled open coastal road

Meanwhile, Faraj Al-Sawa’, a member of the Joint Military Committee (5+1), affiliated with the command of the forces of retired Major General Khalifa Haftar, told Al Jazeera that the committee decided to postpone the opening of the coastal road linking eastern and western Libya because it needed reforms.

In the city of Sirte, central Libya, meetings of the Joint Military Committee, representing the Government of National Unity and Haftar, are being held, in the presence of the UN mission, to discuss mechanisms for opening the coastal road linking the east and west of the country, especially those related to security arrangements.

Haftar’s forces refused to open the coastal road, describing it as a unilateral step, explaining that only the body authorized to take this decision is the Joint Military Committee.

For his part, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, said that there are encouraging efforts by the Joint Military Commission and the Interim Executive Authority in Libya to ensure the opening of the coastal road.

Dujarric said that opening the way is critical to the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and the withdrawal of foreign fighters, mercenaries and other forces, stressing that this should start without further delay.

On Sunday, the Libyan Prime Minister, Abdel Hamid al-Dabaiba, announced the reopening of the coastal road between east and west, and said – in a tweet on Twitter – that his country “will turn today a page of the suffering of the Libyan people, and will take a new step in building, stability and unity.”

He called Dabaiba to renounce the band, forget the grudges, and move towards construction. “Our government was born out of the womb of suffering, and we promised our people to gather the scattered parts of the country,” he said.

Berlin Conference

In a related development, the Assistant Secretary-General of the Arab League, Hossam Zaki, headed a delegation yesterday to Germany to participate in the activities of the “Berlin 2” conference on Libya, which begins tomorrow, and the Secretary-General of the League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, is scheduled to join the delegation today.

The presence of the Arab League comes within the participation of a number of organizations in the conference, which the German Foreign Ministry invited, in the context of its keenness to support efforts to impose stability on the Libyan territories, and to discuss the next steps needed to achieve lasting stability in Libya and prepare for the elections.

The “Berlin 1” conference on Libya was held on January 19, 2020, in the presence of a number of leaders of Libya, countries, and regional and international organizations.