Egypt working for Libya political solution, says FM

Egypt is working for a political solution to fighting in neighboring Libya, its foreign minister said on Saturday ahead of regional talks on the conflict.
“A political solution is the only way to resolve the crisis in Libya,” said Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.
He was speaking ahead of talks with foreign ministers from Libya’s neighbors — Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Niger — as well as UN envoy Martin Kobler.
Libya has been torn apart by fighting between militias, tribes and two rival governments since the fall of dictator Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.
Jihadist groups have exploited the chaos to gain a foothold in the North African country.
A UN-backed unity government based in the capital is struggling to impose its authority.
It faces competition from a rival authority supported by Parliament in the country’s east, which has refused to recognize the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord.
Militarily, the eastern administration is backed by the self-proclaimed Libyan National Army commanded by Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
Haftar enjoys the support of several Arab countries including Egypt and the UAE, as well an emerging alliance with Russia.
GNA-aligned militias from the port city of Misrata, who led the fight to oust the Daesh group from Sirte last year, control much of the west.
In the east, Haftar’s forces have been fighting other militant groups for more than two years, particularly in Benghazi.
Egypt recently hosted Haftar, Parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh and unity government chief Fayez Al-Sarraj in search of “common ground” that could help solve the crisis, Shoukry said Saturday.
“Despite recent victories in the fight against terrorism, in Benghazi and in Sirte, terrorism will never be fully eradicated in Libya until there is a political solution,” he added.

EU mulls aid boost
In another development, the EU said it could soon step up training and equipping Libya’s coast guard to crack down on migrant smuggling in the north African nation’s waters.
Malta, which holds the current rotating EU presidency, is pitching the idea as a short-term measure to try to prevent a new spate of smuggling to Europe when spring arrives, according to an EU proposal seen by AFP on Saturday
The EU’s naval anti-migrant smuggling task force, known as Operation Sophia, does not have approval yet either from the UN or Tripoli to operate in Libyan waters.
Malta’s proposal about “empowering Libyan forces” questions whether it is “politically realistic” to expect that EU naval forces will be able to operate within Libyan waters in the months ahead.
The EU should therefore consider creating a “line of protection much closer to the ports of origin” of smuggler boats, the proposal said.
This would be in Libyan waters “with Libyan forces as frontline operators, but with strong and lasting EU support,” said the proposal prepared by Malta in agreement with European Council President Donald Tusk.
An EU summit in December called for increasing support to the Libyan coast guard, which the EU began training and equipping last October.
The Maltese document said the increased support could be carried out by the current train and equip program under Operation Sophia, but said “the issue of financing needs to be addressed as a matter of priority for future trainings.”
The UN-backed Libyan unity government is seeking to end years of lawlessness following the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Qaddafi, but it is locked in a power struggle with a rival administration in eastern Libya.
The EU proposal also raised the possibility of using its ties with Libya’s neighbors Tunisia and Egypt to crack down on migrant smuggling.
Malta also wants to set up an arrangement with Libya similar to last year’s aid-for-cooperation deal with Turkey that has dramatically slowed migrant landings in Greece, which had been the main entry point for Europe.
Arrivals over the central Mediterranean route, with Libya as the main launchpad, are picking up sharply with more than 180,000 migrants landing in Italy last year, compared with a previous annual record of 170,100 in 2014.
The proposal could come before the leaders of the 28-nation bloc at their summit in Malta on Feb. 3.

Source : Arab News