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Tunisia Tripartite Meeting Issues Declaration on Libya | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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(L-R) Egypt Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Libyan foreign minister Mohamed Tahar Siala and Algerian Minister of Maghreb Affairs, Abdelkader Messahel, chat during a meeting over the turmoil in Libya on January 21, 2017, in the capital Cairo (AFP Photo)


Tunis – Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria’s foreign ministers concluded on Monday a tripartite meeting with an official statement stressing support to a comprehensive political reconciliation in Libya.

The officials announced that the three countries’ presidents would hold a summit in Algeria, adding that Libyan Military Commander Khalifa Haftar would be soon visiting Tunisia.

The Tunisian declaration reiterated the rejection of foreign military or political intervention in Libyan domestic affairs.

The statement underlined the importance of preserving the Libyan state and army in accordance with the 2015 Skhirat agreement and its future amendments through coordination between the different Libyan factions.

Representatives of the country’s political factions signed the Libyan Political Agreement, known as Skhirat Agreement, in December 2015. The agreement rests on four main principles: ensuring the democratic rights of the Libyan people, the need for a consensual government based on the principle of the separation of powers, oversight and balance between them, as well as the need to empower state institutions like the Government of National Accord so that they can address the serious challenges ahead, respect for the Libyan judiciary and its independence.

Shoukry said that the three counterparts called for establishing a mechanism of political representation in the Libyan parliament and the High Council of State.

“This is a sound approach of laying one brick over the other, which should lead to the establishment of state institutions and dealing with urgent issues like terrorism,” the Egyptian FM said.

For his part, Algeria’s foreign minister underlined the need to put in place a mechanism for implementing a comprehensive political solution on several levels and through talks between Libyan factions.

He noted that the aim was to bring the warring Libyan parties to the dialogue table and to provide the necessary conditions that would facilitate reaching this goal.

Last week, Cairo hosted meeting of different Libyan political factions where Egypt stressed optimism that common ground existed for reaching a political end to the stalemate.