Addis Ababa conference on Libyan reconciliation: Will Africa have role solving the crisis?

Indiana Khaled

Addis Ababa will host a conference on reaching a comprehensive reconciliation among Libyans, after the African Union Contact Group on Libya earlier condemned foreign interventions and the violation of the arms embargo imposed on Libya since 2011, as well as the sending of foreign fighters.

AU Commissioner for Peace and Security Ismail Sharqi called on the international community to work towards compelling the Libyans to return to the negotiating table, especially after the resignation of the UN envoy Ghassan Salame. He added that foreign interference and failure to respect the arms embargo are complicating the search for a solution to the Libyan crisis.

For his part, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, the current president of the African Union, called for an urgent ceasefire in Libya and respect for the arms embargo. He also renewed the African Union’s call for a comprehensive dialogue in order to reach a lasting solution to the crisis.

Ramaphosa added that the continued political and military interference by external parties in Libyan affairs undermines the Libyan people’s aspirations for freedom, democracy and development.

Meanwhile, the Libyan National Army (LNA) announced that its forces are ready to cooperate with the African Union to solve Libya’s security crisis, provided that an African envoy is sent from a non-neighboring country, as Libya’s neighbors are connected to the crisis.

Dr. Amani al-Taweel, director of the African program at the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, told the Reference that different European powers are behind each side in Libya’s conflict and each have requirements that must be implemented in order to reach a successful reconciliation and end the war.

The initiative seeks for Africa to have more of a word in the Libyan crisis than it has the ability to reach national reconciliation, Taweel said, noting that the terms of national reconciliation are insufficient, as the Europeans are fighting their own conflict in Libya and have their own requirements. The previous Berlin conferences tried to arrange the Europeans’ interests but did not succeed.

Taweel emphasized that the African initiative’s opportunity for success might be weak unless it is secured by European and international support. The initiative aims to have an African voice that seeks to limit the Europeans’ powers and to support Libyan parties in working towards national reconciliation and ending the civil war so that there can be stability.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi succeeded in bringing Libya to the African Union’s attention and implementing his vision for resolving the Libyan crisis, which involves preserving Libya’s stability and unity, which he sought during the AU summit in Addis Ababa in February, according to Taweel.