Emirati efforts lead to Al Sarraj-Haftar meeting in Abu Dhabi

The United Arab Emirates announced a significant breakthrough in the efforts to resolve the Libyan crisis after arranging a meeting in Abu Dhabi today between Khalifa Haftar, Commander of the Libyan Army, and Fayez Al Sarraj, Chairman of the Presidential Council of the Government of National Accord of Libya.

The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs lauded the positive atmosphere of the talks and praised the determination shown by the two sides to reach a solution to the current political stalemate in Libya.

The Ministry described today's meeting between Haftar and Al Sarraj as an important step on the road to reaching a tangible progress in the political process in Libya and expressed the hope that the meeting will be followed by other steps aimed at achieving stability in Libya.

The Ministry also expressed optimism that today's meeting will be a positive development to guarantee a political solution to the crisis and instability in Libya and affirmed UAE's commitment to support all efforts to build on the current momentum for a swift, comprehensive and lasting solution to the Libyan crisis.

It also renewed UAE's firm position in support of Libya's independence and unity and of all efforts seeking a political solution, inclusive of all key players and regions in Libya.

The Ministry said the UAE had always believed that the Libyan political agreement represents the best framework to end the current crisis and that it is important the efforts to amend the agreement and to address legitimate concerns by certain parties, be endorsed by all Libyan parties and by the international community.

The Ministry also stressed the importance of multi-faceted efforts and their role in resolving the Libyan crisis. However, the UAE believes that any solution that brings stability to Libya, should come from, and be supported by the Libyans, and should be purely based on Libyan-Libyan dialogue. The international community has a responsibility to avoid more divisions and to encourage more cooperation among the Libyans.

The Ministry expressed appreciation to the role played by the UN and its Special Representative to Libya Martin Kobler. It further said that the UAE does not believe in a military solution to the current crisis and urges all main parties to mediate a ceasefire in the South and other conflict areas and to work for establishing a unified military command to guarantee Libya's security and stability.

The Ministry said the absence of a stable government in Libya has greatly aggravated the current migration problems.

The UAE supports current efforts to end the current crisis in Libya, including the recent efforts to set up a quartet, the neighbouring countries meetings and the efforts by the UN and other regional organisations. The UAE remains an active participant in the multi-faceted efforts, including those of the 3+3 and the Quartet on Libya.

The Ministry also voiced concern over the presence of Daesh and other extremist forces in Libya and said the UAE welcomes the efforts by the Libyan National Army and the Government of National Accord of Libya in confronting the dangerous terrorists. The UAE also stresses that the international community should assume responsibilities for countering the continuous terrorist threat.

The Ministry emphasised the need that political and military efforts should be coupled with tangible steps to stabilise the Libyan economy. The key financial institutions in Libya, including the Central Bank, the national oil company and the investment authority, share the responsibility to work together to prevent deterioration of the economy.

They should also work to create a mechanism to equally distribute Libyan national resource among all parties in Libya, while exerting more efforts to prevent armed groups from monopolising such resources and using them as tools for gaining political influence

source : wam