The African Union (AU) wants to be part of the Libya peace process alongside the United Nations, as the existing effort has not brought much progress so far, the AU commissioner for Peace and Security, Smail Chergui, told Sputnik
SOCHI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd October, 2019) The African Union (AU) wants to be part of the Libya peace process alongside the United Nations, as the existing effort has not brought much progress so far, the AU commissioner for Peace and Security, Smail Chergui, told Sputnik.
"We want the UN to continue their work but we want to jointly work with them. We have the sensitivity of the situation better than anyone else and we want to add our own knowledge and our value in order to foster not only a solution, but a durable solution ... As the AU we are in touch with everybody. But once again we really want a new process, a process that embarks not only UN and us together, but also is an inclusive process where we will have everybody without external interference in their internal affairs," the commissioner said, adding that "at the end of the day it's the Libyans themselves who should gather around the table and find the solutions by themselves."
Chergui added that the AU had suggested that there should be a "joint special envoy so that the two organizations could work hand in hand to really foster peaceful plan to address now very complex situation."
"Until now we did not achieve that goal, some of the members of the UNSC did not agree to that," the commissioner said on the sidelines of Russia-Africa forum in Sochi.�
Chergue emphasized the need for inclusive dialogue, remarking that "the way things have been done since eight years [ago] now cannot continue."
Libya has been torn between various rival sections since 2011 when its long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown. The two major powers in the country are the House of Representatives � supported by the Libyan National Army (LNA) and controlling the east � and the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) governing the west. Tensions have been running particularly high since April, when the LNA began an offensive on GNA's Tripoli, citing the need to clear the terrorists from the area.
