The African Union (AU) has not yet decided whether it would participate in the next conference on Libya in Berlin, AU commissioner for Peace and Security, Smail Chergui, told Sputnik in an interview
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd October, 2019) The African Union (AU) has not yet decided whether it would participate in the next conference on Libya in Berlin, AU commissioner for Peace and Security, Smail Chergui, told Sputnik in an interview.Berlin is expected to host a UN international conference on Libya in late October or early November after organizing a similar event in mid-September.
"We are not organizing this conference and we haven't yet decided if we are going to participate or not. We were not in Germany last month, we did not participate," Chergui said.
The initiative of the Berlin meetings comes mainly from Germany with support from France and possibly Italy, he said.
"Indeed, the UN is involved, because it helps [Special Representative of UN Secretary-General for Libya] Ghassan Salame to continue to be in the mood, in the visible," Chergui added.
The previous meeting, held on the initiative of Germany on September 17, was attended by representatives of the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, the Arab League and the European Union. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov also took part in the talks. Salame presented assessments and ideas on the development of the political and humanitarian situation in Libya.
The African Union (AU) has long been engaged in search for solutions to resolve the conflict in Libya. Its High Level Committee on Libya last met on July 7 in Niger's Niamey.
Since the overthrow and killing of long-time Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the country has been gripped by conflict. Libya is now divided between two governments, with the country's eastern part controlled by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA), and the western part headed by the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA).
In April, the LNA launched an offensive to retake Tripoli from the forces loyal to the GNA. The latter, in its turn, has launched a counteroffensive called Volcano of Rage.
