BERLIN (AP) — World powers and other countries with interests in Libya’s long-running civil war sat down Monday for virtual ministerial talks in a meeting co-hosted by the United Nations and Germany aimed at promoting a cease-fire between the North African country’s rival governments.
Germany has been trying to act as an intermediary in the conflict, and in January held a summit in Berlin where participants from both sides agreed to respect an arms embargo and push Libya’s warring parties to reach a full cease-fire. That agreement has been repeatedly violated.
Libya was plunged into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising in 2011 toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi, who was later killed. The country has since split between rival east- and west-based administrations, each backed by armed groups and foreign governments.
Military commander Khalifa Hifter and his self-styled army launched an offensive in April 2019, trying to capture Tripoli. But his campaign collapsed in June when the Tripoli-allied militias, with Turkish support, gained the upper hand, driving his forces from the outskirts of Tripoli and other western towns.
Hifter is supported by Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Russia. Turkey, a bitter rival of Egypt and the U.A.E. in a broader regional struggle over political Islam, is the main patron of the Tripoli forces, which are also backed by the wealthy Gulf state of Qatar.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas met in August in Tripoli with officials in the U.N.-recognized administration, and then traveled to the U.A.E. for talks with leaders there to push them to use the country’s influence with Hifter.
Stephanie Williams, the top U.N. official for Libya, said Friday that the meeting “comes at a crucial moment.” She pointed to “some encouraging developments in Libya” including talks on security, “the long-term agreements on transition, and progress on the question of oil exports.”
Germany’s deputy U.N. ambassador, Günter Sautter, said Berlin hopes participants in the meeting — co-chaired by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Maas — will renew their commitments to the Berlin road map and its implementation.
“We hope that they will call on the parties to accelerate efforts to achieve a cease-fire,” Sautter said. “We hope that continuing blatant violations of the arms embargo will end.”
Participants were to include representatives from both sides of the conflict in Libya, those directly supporting them, as well as the United States, Britain, France, China and others, the dpa news agency reported.