Jean Ives Le Drian: “Fleeing Daesh terrorists don’t pose a threat to Algeria’s well secured borders”

The French defense minister has said that effective regional coordination is necessary to clear the region of the terrorism scourge notably in Libya.

“Daesh” terrorists could flee to Egypt or Tunisia after being flushed from their former Libyan stronghold of Sirte, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian warned on Tuesday.

“We should begin to look seriously at the question of the spread of the terrorists once Sirte… (is) emptied of the terrorists,” Le Drian told a conference at a technology University in the Essone department.

“They don’t disappear. There’s a new risk that appears,” he said, adding: “Indirectly this will pose new risks for Tunisia and Egypt.”

However, the French defense minister suggested to this effect that the “Daesh” terrorists fleeing from Sirte don’t pose a threat to Algeria’s well-secured borders.

Backed by weeks of US air strikes, forces loyal to Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) have recaptured nearly all of what had been the terrorists’ main stronghold in North Africa.

Pro-GNA forces launched a new attack on Saturday against “Daesh” targets in Sirte, saying it could take several days to regain full control of the embattled city.

The extremists took advantage of the chaos in oil-rich Libya after the 2011 uprising to seize Sirte in June 2015.

The capture of Sirte by “Daesh” extremists last year sparked fears the fighters could use it as a springboard for attacks on Europe.

National support for the GNA is seen as crucial to restoring stability and to tackling ”Daesh”, which took advantage of the chaos that has gripped Libya since the 2011 uprising that ousted Mouamer Kadhafi to take a foothold in the country.

While the loss of Sirte is a scathing reversal for”Daesh” terrorists, between 5,000 and 7,000 of them remain in Libya, according to French and US figures.

Many “have fled to the south of the country,” a French security source told the press.

Le Drian warned that the Libyan crisis would only be solved “if the Libyans themselves secure real political and military coherence.”

France wants to see the GNA consolidating its power and becoming recognized by everyone, he added.

Concerning the Algerian stand on this disquieting file, the minister of Maghreb Affairs, African Union, and the Arab League, Abdelkader Messahel,  said that dialogue and political solution are the only ways that could bring peace and stability in Libya,”  underlining the important role “to be played by the Libyan government itself.”

“Dialogue and political solution are the only ways that could help restore peace and stability in Libya,” said Mr Messahel during a press conference co-hosted on Sunday, at the headquarters of the ministry of Foreign Affairs in Algiers, with the visiting Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Libya, Martin Kobler.

According to the minister, “when we speak about dialogue we must involve all the actors, whether they are parliamentarians or the actors on site.”

On the other hand, he insisted on the need to promote and support the capacities of the Libyan institutions that stemmed from the peace agreement.

In this regard, Mr Messahel stressed that “the priority in Libya is that the government must play its role,” adding that “wanting to fight against terrorism and the migratory flow, in the absence of a State and its institutions, is difficult.”

As for Algeria’s role, it was and will always be in favour of an inclusive political solution as likely to settle the vexed Libyan issue, he emphasized.