The French and German ministers of foreign affairs on Saturday made an unannounced visit to Tripoli in a show of support for the new unity government striving to bridge Libya’s deep political divisions.
World powers see the Government of National Accord (GNA) as a crucial partner in tackling militants behind a string of deadly attacks in Libya, as well as human traffickers exploiting the country’s turmoil.
French Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Marc Ayrault and German Minister of Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier flew into the capital amid tight security for talks with the UN-backed Cabinet, which has set up operations at a naval base in the city.
Photo: Reuters
The GNA is seeking “training for its police and military forces,” Ayrault told journalists after the two envoys met Libyan prime minister-designate Fayez al-Sarraj.
“There is the need to train them perhaps in the beginning outside of Libya and this is what we will discuss on Monday [today],” Steinmeier said, referring to talks in Luxembourg on a possible EU mission to assist Libya’s police and border guards.
Al-Sarraj said he spoke to Ayrault about “combating terrorism,” but added: “We shouldn’t be waiting for international intervention.”
Saturday’s visit was the latest in a flurry of visits by European diplomats who had been absent since 2014 when EU member states closed their Tripoli embassies as fighting shook the North African nation.
Their return was prompted by the arrival of the UN-backed prime minister on March 30 by sea with a naval escort, after a rival Tripoli authority closed the airspace to try to keep al-Sarraj out.
“France was one of the first countries to back [al-]Sarraj and the time has come to give a new impetus to that support,” a French diplomat said.
The visit comes two days before a crucial vote by the country’s recognized parliament on whether to endorse the GNA, and ahead of the talks in Luxembourg.
Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Paolo Gentiloni hailed the unity government as a “game changer” when he visited Tripoli on Tuesday last week.
The British, French and Spanish ambassadors flew in for talks two days later, saying they were working toward reopening their diplomatic missions there.
European nations are increasingly alarmed by the expansion of the Islamic State militant group in Libya, where it has established a new stronghold about 300km away from Italy across the Mediterranean.
The militants last year seized control of former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s coastal hometown of Sirte and have used the city as a base to stage a string of suicide bombings and attacks on oil facilities.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for a car bombing on Friday last week near the city of Benghazi that security sources said left two soldiers of the internationally recognized government dead and three wounded.
The militants claimed to have killed as many as 50 soldiers and destroyed 15 vehicles in the attack.
Oil-flush Libya descended into chaos after the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted and killed Qaddafi.
The country has had two rival administrations since the middle of 2014, when a militia alliance took over Tripoli, setting up its own authority and forcing the recognized parliament to flee to the east.
A UN-backed power-sharing deal in December last year was backed by some lawmakers by both sides.
However, al-Sarraj has not yet received the endorsement of the internationally recognized legislature and the head of the rival Tripoli-based administration, Khalifa al-Ghweil, has refused to recognize his authority.
Mattia Toaldo, a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said the European visit was “timely,” coming days ahead of the confidence vote in parliament and the meetings of EU foreign and defense ministers.
Al-Sarraj is expected to participate in the Luxembourg talks, probably by videolink.
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