Statement by the Alliance of the Libyan National Gatherings on the Moscow Meetings on the Libyan Conflict

STATEMENT BY THE ALLIANCE OF LIBYAN NATIONAL GATHERINGS ON THE MOSCOW MEETINGS ON THE LIBYAN CONFLICT

[Libya, 16 January 2020] – The Alliance of the Libyan National Gatherings, which includes a number of civil society organizations, national parties, human rights associations, writers, researchers, diplomats and academicians, has closely followed up the efforts recently exerted in Moscow to end the war and find a peaceful solution to the Libyan crisis.

While we welcome every sincere effort from neutral parties to contribute to help the Libyans stop the war and find a solution to their differences, we address our statement to the participants in the Berlin Conference on Libya, affirming the following:

(1) Turkey cannot be an honest and desirable mediator between Libyan rivals. It systematically violates Security Council resolutions pertaining to the arms embargo and curtails the efforts to combat terrorism in Libya. Turkey is completely aligned with the so-called Government of National Accord (GNA) which represents the political arm of the criminal and terrorist militias that control the capital. In order for the Libyans to believe Turkey, and to prove its goodwill, the Turkish government must publicly announce and commit to halting the delivery of weapons to the militias, and withdraw the Syrian mercenaries that it transported to Libya.

(2) The essence of the conflict is due to violence and lack of security, as well as the proliferation of armed militias. Those militias should be disarmed and disbanded according to a specific timetable.

(3) The Libyan National Army (LNA) led by its Commander-in-Chief, Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, is the only guarantor of Libya’s unity, independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the preservation of its capabilities. This was clearly manifested in the liberation of the oil terminals from the internationally sanctioned Ibrahim Al-Jadhran and his militia; the LNA secured all the oil fields and eliminated fuel-smuggling gangs, human trafficking and illegal immigration in the areas under its control. The international community has a duty to help the LNA recover its camps from the militias and deploy its forces throughout Libya and on its borders, in the service of security and peace in Libya and the region.

(4) The Libyan National Army (LNA), with limited resources and under the arms embargo, has managed to eliminate ISIS, Al Qaeda and Ansar al-Sharia organizations in the cities of Benghazi and Derna and their strongholds in southern Libya, which are classified as terrorist organizations by international resolutions, led and coordinated by the Muslim Brotherhood which is classified as a terrorist organisation by the Libyan Parliament and a number of countries in the region. The time has come for the international community to stand with the LNA to eliminate the last pockets of these organizations in the city of Tripoli, especially after Turkey started to transfer thousands of Syrian terrorist elements to Libya.

(5) A political solution cannot be reached and implemented in the presence of criminal and terrorist militias. Likewise, the Libyans cannot enjoy security and exercise their constitutional rights, neither by election nor by candidacy, given the militias’ control of, and hegemony over, state institutions.

(6) The Libyan National Army (LNA) forces, by virtue of their national duty, cannot fail the Libyan people and withdraw from the locations they reached in Tripoli before achieving their declared goals, through peace or war.

By and large, the Alliance of the Libyan National Gatherings hopes that this message will reach all the stakeholders concerned with the Libyan file who are exerting tireless and appreciated efforts to assist in putting an end to the Libyan crisis.

Kindly accept our utmost respect and appreciation

Issued on 16 January 2020

LIST OF SIGNATORIES