Sisi stresses integrated approach to Libyan crisis in AU Summit

CAIRO - 9 February 2020: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi stressed in his speech at the session held on Libya within the 33rd African Union Summit in Addis Ababa on the necessity to adopt an integrated approach to the crisis Libya has been going through for nearly a decade.

“The Libyan crisis is going through a critical phase turning more complicated and incurring security repercussions within Libyan borders and in neighboring countries. That requires a continuous follow-up from the Peace and Security Council,” the president said.

“The interconnection between the situation in Libya and the G5 states requires supporting the latter’s national efforts to deal with the complex challenges they face, mainly the attempts of extremist terrorist organizations to expand, and the rise of organized crime, arms smuggling, and human trafficking,” the president elaborated.

“The integrated approach to deal with such challenges must address security, developmental, economic and social challenges, and support the national institutions of G5 states to impose their sovereignty,” the president added.

“The known foreign interventions in Libyan affairs have given rise to threats that go beyond Libyan borders. The continuous pouring of thousands of foreign militants and terrorist elements from Syria to Libya will affect countries sharing borders with Libya on the very short-run, if legitimate means are not adopted to deter such phenomenon within a continental framework fostered by the African Peace and Security Council,” the president asserted.

Arms embargo violations persist in Libya

CAIRO - 1 February 2020: The arms embargo violations persist in Libya amid the denouncement of the international community. Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) Ghassan Salame decried on Thursday the presence of foreign militants in the country without indicating their nationalities stating that the arms embargo violations recorded 110.

“The recent negative developments on the Libyan scene made the security aspect come into focus, which is normal in light of terror threats and others relevant to the spread of organized crime and the possible worsening of African migrants’ misery. Yet, that should not distract us from what Egypt has been calling for since the outbreak of the Libyan crisis nine years ago. That is the necessity to develop an integrated approach that tackles all aspects of the crisis and not just the security one,” the president underlined.

“There will not be a secure stability in Libya unless a peaceful settlement is reached in a way that eliminates the marginalization of certain Libyan territories and allows a fair distribution of revenues and power. [The settlement must also make room for] the rebuilding of state institutions that must be able to fulfill their duties towards the citizens and control the borders preserving the security of Libya and inhibiting dangers from reaching neighboring countries,” the president added.

“The matter was discussed thoroughly at the AU Troika Committee and the AU High-Level Committee on Libya meeting held in April. As the AU chair, I also stressed that approach in the G7 Summit held in France last summer,” the president pointed out.

“This approach was set forward by Egypt in the preparation process for the Berlin Summit and was adopted in the convention. It is very unfortunate that violations have been committed by known regional parties as they breached the arms embargo and kept sending thousands of mercenaries that are human murder machines,” the president stated.

The president praised the AU High-Level Committee on Libya and its chair’s eagerness to achieve more African involvement in efforts deployed to reach a political solution for the Libyan crisis.