Meeting of Maghreb Countries FMs: Libya called upon Algeria to hand over Gaddafi Family

Libyan Foreign Affairs Minister, Ashour Ben Khayal tried to embarrass Algeria in his speech at the opening of the works of the meeting of the Arab Maghreb Union’s Foreign Ministers in Algiers, by inviting Algeria to follow Tunisia in handing over Gaddafi’s family members to Libya, a step that does not differ much on‬ what was proposed by‬ Morocco FM, when he said that‬ what ‭happen ‭in Northern ‭Mali resembles the issue of Western Sahara‭. ‬

Libyan Foreign Minister Achour Ben Khayal, who presided over the works of the meeting of the Arab Maghreb Union’s Foreign Minister on Monday in Algiers Sheraton Hotel renewed the Libyan government’s position which called upon all countries of the Maghreb Union, in the forefront of Algeria, to the need to hand over the Libyans who belonged to the former regime, including Gaddafi family members Gaddafi who live in Algeria, “for humanitarian reasons” since the topple of the Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, as the foreign minister Achour Ben Khayal said; “We ask Algeria to hand over the members who fled in a hidden or open manner to the countries of the Arab Maghreb Union”, waiting for what he regarded as guarantees of a fair trial for these members in Libya, and before he calls for handing over Gaddafi’s family, he praised the Tunisian government which handed over the last Prime Minister Baghdadi Al Mahmoudi, to the Libyan government for trial.

Libyan FM added; “Security and stability in the Maghreb region requires the development of an urgent methodology to tighten security cooperation to counter extremism and armed groups and to combat crime and arms smuggling, human trafficking, money laundering, and illegal immigration. Rapid security, political, economic and social developments of the Maghreb region, obliged us to work more together to put an urgent strategy to fight these phenomena ‮ “‬ ‭.