The Berlin conference on Libyan settlement, to be held on Sunday, will unlikely lead to progress in resolving the conflict in the North African nation, Giles Merritt, founder and chairman of Brussels-based Friends of Europe think tank, told Sputnik
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th January, 2020) The Berlin conference on Libyan settlement, to be held on Sunday, will unlikely lead to progress in resolving the conflict in the North African nation, Giles Merritt, founder and chairman of Brussels-based Friends of Europe think tank, told Sputnik.
"I'm not optimistic. I think I'm realistic. These 'said peace' negotiations seldom work on the ground. Gentle negotiations, informal representatives bit by bit lower the temperature," Merritt said when asked whether any agreements would be reached in Berlin.
According to him, the current situation in conflict-torn Libya has been to a certain extent provoked by the West's actions, which helped to oust long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi.
"Libya is a terrible mess. And I think that part of the problem is that's it's a mess that Europe created. We ousted Gaddafi, but we didn't understand that Libya is made up of three blocks and we created all the uncertainties without thinking ahead just as the Americans did when they went to Iraq. When big countries go into complicated Arab countries, we usually don't know enough, and we all regret it," Merritt added.
Libya is currently in the midst of a civil war between two rival administrations: the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) under Fayez Sarraj, and the elected parliament in the country's east that is supported by Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA). Over the past several weeks, the situation has escalated amid LNA's advances on the GNA-held capital of Tripoli.
Over the past week, Russia and Turkey have brokered a ceasefire in Libya it started at midnight on Sunday and mediated talks between Sarraj and Haftar in Moscow on Monday. The meeting failed to result in an official ceasefire agreement, however, and Haftar's army reaffirmed its readiness to continue its offensive on Tripoli, which began in April.
The UN-led conference on Libya in the German capital will be attended by representatives from Egypt, Russia, the United States, Turkey and EU nations. Both Sarraj and Haftar are also expected to participate.
