Conference on Stability and Development in Libya held in Madrid
(ANSAmed) - MADRID - An international conference on Libya gathering representatives from 21 countries from Europe and near Libya came to a conclusion Wednesday in Madrid. The meeting, organized by the Spanish government, recommended coordinating international efforts under the aegis of the United Nations to stabilize Libya. Participants advised launching talks between parties with the aim of reaching a ceasefire and progressing to political negotiations.
The meeting reaffirmed support for the Libyan people and emphasized the leadership role of the UN, through Bernardino Leon, special representative of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon in the area.
Leon had just returned from a second mission in Libya, where he documented the indiscriminate use of mortars against civilians.
"There are two major challenges posed here in Madrid: to coordinate the action of all the countries of the region and the UN special envoys, so that international efforts are perceived by Libyans as aid and not taken as a position in an internal conflict," said Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini in a briefing with reporters on the sidelines of the conference.
"The real objective is to pass from conflict on a military to a political arena," Mogherini added.
There are currently two parliaments in Libya. One was "legitimately elected" in elections June 25, and transferred headquarters to Tobruk due to fighting in the capital. The other is the previous parliament, the General National Congress, which has resumed meetings in Tripoli since it returned under control of Islamic militias under Operation Dawn.
"It is necessary for the institution to strengthen its legitimacy by launching a political confrontation in an inclusive process, even with the political parties that were not recognized in the parliament elected in May," said Italy's chief diplomat. Italy - the only country to continue to have an open embassy in Tripoli - "strongly supports" the initiative of the UN special envoy to open political confrontation.
That means "to exclude international military intervention and to rely entirely on trying to make elected institutions function, rendering them as representative as possible of the difficult and complex situation in Libya".
The Madrid conference introduced a regional format, with the involvement of neighboring countries.
"Bernardino Leon will work to also define a chronological road map on first steps to follow and we all agree that the first one should be opening direct, internal dialogue in Libya".
(ANSAmed).
