Second round of inter-Libyan dialogue slated for next Monday in Algiers

A second round of the UN-backed inter-Libyan dialogue is scheduled for next Monday April 13th in Algiers with the expected participation of all the Libyan representatives who took part in the first round of the exploratory negotiations in addition this time to newcomer Mr Mohamed Soualem who was labour minister in the former government of Libyan Prime minister Ali Zaidan.

Informed sources told “Echorouk” that the fresh round of the inter-Libyan dialogue, boosted by Algeria’s goodwill mediation endeavor, will also witness the participation of major Libyan figures who failed to attend the first broad-based meeting held in Algiers last month.

The upcoming round of this inter-Libyan dialogue is expected to focus on a set of core and pivotal issues in the hope of paving the way for an overall agreement among all the Libyan parties at issue, according to the same sources.

It should be recalled that Algeria has initiated as a goodwill gesture the start of talks between the Libyan belligerents, while Libya, where the presence of the state is non-existent, has become an out of control territory and the source of all dangers. The various Libyan actors compete in a long civil war since 2011 have accepted the Algerian mediation. The Algerian state has always wisely favored political solutions because they are the only ones that persist in the long term, unlike military interventions, especially air strikes, which yielded no tangible result, causing on the contrary chaos,  destruction and desolation.

Unfortunately, it seems that it is only Algeria, which assumes this daunting mediation task, as leaders notably in the West are washing their hands from the fate of Libya and its hapless people. Algeria, initiating a dialogue between the opposing parties, has to all intents and purposes become essential to everything that is done politically on African soil

As a matter of fact, the first meeting of the inter-Libyan dialogue spearheaded by Algeria was held last March 10 and 11 in Algiers under the aegis of the United Nations, in the presence of a dozen influential people on the Libyan scene representatives of the various Libyan factions, political leaders and party leaders. This meeting was ratified by the Algiers Declaration in which participants pledged to respect the political process and dialogue for the settlement of the crisis in Libya.

The Personal Representative of the Secretary General of the UN, Bernardino Leon and Algerian Minister Delegate for Maghreb and African Affairs Abdelkader Messahel, said during a press conference closing the meeting, that it is a first very promising policy.

Algeria “which shares with the sister Libya neighborly relations, the struggle against colonialism and a common history, could not sit idly by while the Libyan brothers were experiencing discord,” said Abdelkader Messahel adding that “Algeria has spared no effort to support the brothers in Libya and work to unify the ranks and find a peaceful solution to the crisis in this country.”

Rejecting any foreign intervention in the internal affairs of Libya, the participants wanted to send “a clear message in a strong and united stand as to their commitment to continuing the dialogue as the only solution to the crisis in Libya,” while asserting their ” rejection of violence as a means to resolve political differences. ”

They further expressed their “rejection of the military escalation in all its forms and requested an immediate halt to all military operations to allow the dialogue to continue in a an appropriate climate”. Pledging to “defend the territorial unity of Libya, sovereignty, independence and their rejection of any foreign interference” they insisted that foreign military action would inevitably lead to the destabilization of the entire Libya and would lead inevitably affect neighboring countries.