The League of Arab States (LAS) has regained its strength after the majority of its members welcomed at its last emergency meeting the Cairo Declaration on Libya and agreed on the need for an immediate ceasefire, Ahmed Huma, the second deputy speaker of the eastern-based Libyan parliament, told Sputnik in an interview
BENGHAZI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th June, 2020) The League of Arab States (LAS) has regained its strength after the majority of its members welcomed at its last emergency meeting the Cairo Declaration on Libya and agreed on the need for an immediate ceasefire, Ahmed Huma, the second deputy speaker of the eastern-based Libyan parliament, told Sputnik in an interview.
On June 23, the league's Council of Foreign Ministers had an emergency meeting to welcome the Cairo Declaration, initiated by Egypt on a peaceful settlement on Libyan soil, which supports Libyan National Army commander Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar in the Libyan conflict. The meeting's participants stressed the need for an immediate ceasefire and the return to a political process in line with the Berlin Conference on Libya held in January.
"Unfortunately, the role of the League of Arab States was very weak in the past periods, but the bloc has recovered its position on the last meeting at the level of Arab foreign ministers. The majority of Arab countries supported the speech of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi, when he spoke about the joint Arab defense and Arab solidarity in an effort to prevent any country from becoming a victim of other states, such as Turkey," Huma said.
According to the official, Somalia, Qatar and Tunisia have expressed some reservations on the league's final statement, as did Libya's UN-backed western-based government, which downgraded its representation at the regional bloc's meeting.
"As for Somalia, the state is trying to regain its capacity, and it seems that this process will take a lot of time. Somalia has a very long history of the conflict. We know that there is a clear Turkish interference in Somalia, including attempts by Turkey to teach its language. Turkey is a state with colonial ambitions to control some important border areas whether in the Red Sea, or in the Mediterranean," the official said.
Turkey has been a significant source of aid to Somalia due to a famine that the country has been experiencing since 2011. The disaster has resulted in the deaths of over 200,000 people. Turkish specialists have helped Somalia build infrastructure, while Ankara's officers have trained Somali soldiers as part of its efforts to raise the army of the African country. To promote its agenda, Turkey has established an educational institution there. In late January, the Somalian government also offered Ankara to participate in oil exploration along Somalia's continental shelf in parallel with Turkey's drilling activities in Libya.
On June 6, Sisi had a meeting with parliamentary speaker Aguila Saleh, and Haftar. Following the meeting, the leader of Egypt announced the so-called Cairo initiative, which includes a ceasefire throughout Libya from June 8 and the terms of a political settlement. The initiative was supported by Russia, the United States and several Arab states. Meanwhile, Turkey and the Government of National Accord rejected it.
