Italy's Conte Says EU May Send Peacekeeping Mission to Libya Once Hostilities End

ROME (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th January, 2020) Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte did not rule out on Thursday that the EU might send a peacekeeping mission to Libya after the hostilities in this North African country end.

Earlier in the day, Conte paid a visit to Algeria, where he held talks with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

"This [sending a mission to Libya] is one of the possibilities that we will look into. But we must coordinate our positions and try to push the situation toward a peaceful solution," Conte told Italian journalists, while speaking about the agenda of the upcoming Berlin conference on Libyan settlement.

His words were quoted by the ANSA news agency.

"After a military option is put off the table, the work on sending a mediation and peace contingent to Libya will become an option. And we can already say that we are open to this," the prime minister said.

Speaking of Libyan National Army (LNA) commander Khalifa Haftar's decision to accept the invitation to the Berlin conference, Conte welcomed it as an "excellent signal." He stressed that Libya's future must be discussed only with the participation of representatives of this country.

Berlin will host a UN-led conference on Libya this Sunday, with the participation of Russia, Egypt, the United States, Turkey and the EU among others. Both Haftar and Fayez Sarraj, the head of the rival Government of National Accord (GNA), are also expected in Berlin.

Libya has been torn apart between the two rival administrations since 2011, when its long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed, with the LNA controlling the east and the Tripoli-based GNA sitting in the country's west.