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7th London Conference on Libya Rules out Military Solution | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and United Nations Special Representative for Libya Ghassan Salame meet at Lancaster house in London, Britain, September 14, 2017. REUTERS/Hannah McKay


Cairo– London hosted a meeting on Thursday to support the political process in Libya and back the efforts of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and his special envoy Ghassan Salame.

The British Foreign Office said in a statement that the six-nation ministerial meeting represented an opportunity to discuss ways to break Libya’s political stalemate and build momentum in support of the efforts of the Secretary-General and his special representative.

The foreign ministers of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the United Nations envoy to Libya attended the meeting.

“Libya is a front line in our common struggle against terrorism and illegal migration and we all share a vital interest in that country’s stability. Our shared goal is to break the political deadlock and rally behind the United Nations envoy Ghassan Salame as he seeks to bring all sides together,” British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said during a joint news conference with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

The Italian foreign ministry said in a statement that the London meeting discussed the status of the political process in Libya and exchanged views on how to support the work of the United Nations in light of the meeting to be convened by the UN Secretary-General on the sidelines of the General Assembly in New York next week.

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council extended on Thursday for one year the mandate of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), focused on supporting the North African country’s political process and key national institutions, as well as coordination of international assistance.

In a statement, the UN News Center said that the Security Council has unanimously adopted a new resolution, extending UNSMIL’s mandate through 15 September 2018, “during which time it would exercise mediation and ‘good offices’ to support an inclusive political process within the framework of the Libyan Political Agreement; continued implementation of the Agreement; and consolidation of the governance, security and economic arrangements of the Government of National Accord (GNA), among others.”

Tillerson and British Prime Minister Theresa May touched on the Libyan crisis during their meeting in London on Thursday.

“We hope to focus on the mediation of the United Nations and the political process and give them a new impetus to reach a reunification in Libya,” a US official said.

On a different note, the International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda renewed her calls to the Libyan government on Wednesday for the immediate arrest and surrender of Mahmoud Mustafa Busayf al-Werfalli, who is alleged to have participated in war crimes in Libya.

Werfalli is suspected of directly participating in seven incidents involving the deaths of 33 individuals.

Stressing that Libya has the primary responsibility to arrest Werfalli and surrender him to the custody of the ICC, Bensouda urged Libya authorities to “use all means in their reach to do so immediately.”

She also expressed concerns regarding conflicting reports about the arrest of the Libyan figure.