Libya was on the agenda of the 36th African Union summit, which ended on Sunday evening February 19. The country has been plunged for more than 10 years into a major crisis. At the end of the proceedings, the AU announced that it was working to organize a ” national reconciliation conference “, under the aegis of Congolese President Denis Sassou-Nguesso, at the head of the High Level Committee on the Libyan crisis.
A national conference intended to be the rallying point for all Libyan parties to pave the way for free and fair elections “: this is how Bankole Adeoye, the peace and security commissioner of the African Union, presents the organization’s project to help Libya out of the crisis, explains our special correspondent in Addis Ababa, Florence Morice.
The report presented by Congolese President Denis Sassou-Nguesso, who heads the African Union High Level Committee on Libya, was adopted by the Heads of State who took part in the 36th summit of the organization, this weekend of February 18-19.
For the time being, no date or place have been fixed. But a ” preparatory meeting has already taken place in Tripoli a few weeks ago, specifies the AU. At the microphone of RFI, Jean-Claude Gakosso, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Congo-Brazzaville, confirms. ” Everybody was there. The big moment is the consensus we reached during this meeting to organize a reconciliation conference “, he confides to Esdras Ndikumana in the Ethiopian capital.
New call for the withdrawal of various foreign fighters in Libya
The AU must now meet with the Libyan Presidential Council to set up the preparatory commission. And this one will stop the date », adds Jean-Claude Gakosso, who insists on one point: this conference « inclusive or will not be at all “. In other words, all Libyan parties are invited to take part.
At the same time, in its conclusions, the African Union asks ” withdrawal of all foreign fighters », « foreign forces ” And ” mercenaries in Libya “, also indicated the commissioner for peace and security. This question is as thorny as it is crucial, because the presence of these men, estimated at 20,000 in 2021 by the United Nations (UN), has until recently contributed significantly to undermining efforts to try to resolve the Libyan political crisis.
At the beginning of the month, a first step was taken: the Libyan military committee met for the first time under the aegis of the UN envoy to Libya, Abdoulaye Batilly. He announced the creation of a mechanism for the exchange of information and coordination regarding these foreign fighters and mercenaries between the Libyans and some of its neighboring countries.
African Union calls for more UN financial support to fight terrorism
Among the issues discussed at length throughout this 36th African Union summit and in plenary session in Addis Ababa, there was that of the financing of the fight against terrorism. The continent’s leaders have pledged to tap into the AU’s peace fund to contribute to this financing, in particular to support the deployment of the East African community force in eastern DRC, or to bail out the deficit of Atmis, the AU force in Somalia.
But at the same time, the organization is once again pleading for a greater financial commitment from the United Nations on this issue of the fight against terrorism. Moussa Faki Mahamat, the President of the African Union Commission, recalled this at the end of the work, Sunday February 19:
” The debate has been going on for ten years with the United Nations Security Council. But until now, we have not had funding from the United Nations to be able to deal with this terrorism, within the framework of support or peacekeeping missions on the African continent. We find this unfair. You saw it in Iraq, in Syria against (the group) Islamic State… It is the whole of the international community which made coalitions, spent billions, mobilized tens of thousands of taxes. »
” To cope, African states are making efforts, setting up ad hoc structures like the G5. We have also reactivated the Africa Peace Fund. With the efforts of our States, we already have just over 300 million dollars. This figure may seem high, but for the maintenance of peace, it is derisory. Peace missions are extremely expensive. »