The foreign ministers of France, Germany and Italy were in Tripoli to meet their Libyan counterpart Thursday in a show of support for the war-torn country’s newly formed unity government.
The joint visit by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, Germany’s Heiko Maas and Italy’s Luigi Di Maio comes 10 days after the formation of an interim government to lead Libya to December elections.
For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Oil-rich Libya descended into chaos after dictator Moammar Gaddafi was toppled and killed in a 2011 NATO-backed uprising, resulting in multiple forces vying for power.
Fighting only came to a halt last summer, and a formal ceasefire in October was followed by the establishment of a new Government of National Unity (GNU) led by interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah.
The new transitional executive emerged from a complex UN-sponsored process launched in November, and its members were confirmed by Libya’s parliament on March 10.
The country had been divided between two rival administrations: the Government of National Accord (GNA) based in Tripoli, and its rival in the east loyal led by Khalifa Haftar.
Libya’s population of seven million, sitting atop Africa’s largest proven crude oil reserves, faces a dire economic crisis with soaring unemployment, crippling inflation and endemic corruption.
Another key challenge will be ensuring the departure of an estimated 20,000 mercenaries and foreign fighters still in the country, whose presence Dbeibah has called “a stab in our back”.
UN chief Antonio Guterres said he “remains deeply concerned” that “foreign elements” continue to operate in the North African country, in a report discussed by Security Council members on Wednesday.
Read more:
France to reopen its embassy in Libya next week: Macron
Italian PM Draghi’s Libya visit in early April in gesture of support to unity govt
Foreign ministers of France, Germany, Egypt, Jordan hail unity govt in Libya
-
Italian PM Draghi’s Libya visit in early April in gesture of support to unity govt
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said on Wednesday he hopes to visit Libya in early April in a show of support for the new UN-backed unity ... World News -
US Secretary Blinken presses Turkish FM on Russia, discuss conflicts in Syria, Libya
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Wednesday, urged Ankara not to retain Russia’s ... Middle East -
Nearly 60 die in migrant ship fire off Libyan coast: Charity
Roughly 60 migrants are presumed dead after their boat engine caught fire off the Libyan coast during an attempted Mediterranean crossing, a rescue ... Middle East