Brussels, 22/09/2014 (Agence Europe) - The countries that met in Madrid on 17 September (Libya, the EU, member states bordering the Mediterranean, the 5+5 Group and countries neighbouring Libya) have finally come to an agreement on a text that was published after their meeting. Algiers, which had been opposed from the start, gave its agreement once it had obtained assurance that any military action would be ruled out.
“Fortunately the members of the 5+5 Group and those of the Med 7 [France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Cyprus, Malta and Portugal] have shown wisdom. The final statement from the conference on stability and development in Libya does not mention the use of force anywhere”, states Algerian daily newspaper El Watan, which adds, like other media, that “good sense prevailed” - because “arms cannot be silenced in this country by dropping bombs on Tripoli and Benghazi - which are already in ruins”.
El Watan clearly noted “the risk that the Madrid conference might act as a diplomatic meeting for forceful intervention in Libya, as was the case with the Security Council in 2011.” The newspaper adds that it “must be admitted that Algerian diplomacy has done a good job in convincing certain countries that are all out for war to slow down”. “A chance needed to be given to political diplomacy - perhaps it will be enough to put out the fire in Libya, even if the news from the front is not really reassuring”, El Watan continues.
Satisfaction comes particularly from seeing Washington agree with this opinion and, in Algiers much is made of John Kerry's messages to his Algerian counterpart, Ramtane Lamamra. Lamamra is currently visiting the United States for a conference at the invitation of the Center for Strategic and International Studies and this has given him the opportunity to reiterate “the rejection of all foreign military intervention and his desire for a consensual solution”. Algeria has even been proposed “for hosting the inter-Libyan meetings aiming to establish the dialogue”. France is reportedly disqualified for having “wanted to use gunboats in Libya” and is “certainly obliged to observe that its option is not catching on”, local media report.
A new meeting between Lamamra and Kerry was due to take place on Monday. Lamamra has already praised “the synergy” which is beginning to be created and “the common vision on several issues that are developing” with Washington, he said. By way of example, Algiers mentions its role in the Libyan issue as being like that in neighbouring Tunisia. It is a strategic regional role which is demanded.
The general opinion in the media, which is well summarised by El Watan, is that it “would be suicidal to transform Libya into a sanctuary of international terrorism, with Gaddafi's arsenals having largely fed the terrorist movement in Tunisia and Algeria, and especially in Mali”. France's position, at the forefront of the EU, is reportedly only “to get rid of its feeling of guilt for having set fire to Libya via NATO” and “President Hollande would not be well inspired to want to put it out by lighting an inferno”. Egypt, another important actor in the Libyan stakes, shares the Algerian opinion on a non-military route but, according to our sources in Madrid, has said that the dialogue envisaged - with the backing of Washington and sought by UN special envoy Bernardino Leon - should not serve to return the Muslim Brotherhood-linked militia to the saddle. El-Ahram Hebdo clearly challenges what is reportedly Western warmongering, and “Western media, pushed by the cunning policy of the USA, are reducing the situation in Libya to a conflict between Islamist groups, like Fajr Libya and Ansar Al-Charia, and the liberals. Western policy aims to spread disorder in Libya, while exploiting the revolution and resolve of the Libyan people to rid themselves of a corrupt regime and tyrannical leader”.
The Madrid statement, which has now been published, outlines nine points that set the framework of the new strategy backed by Washington and the UN. In particular, it stipulates that: “The unity, sovereignty and democracy of Libya must be preserved” and “the solution must be up to the Libyans themselves. Any form of international interference must be firmly rejected (…) there can be no military solution to the current crisis. The national dialogue and reconciliation must be inclusive and count on the participation of the political actors, tribal leaders and other high-profile people. Only those who practise violence or who refuse to renounce terror will not be able to participate in the national dialogue”. It also states that “enhanced coordination between the different international initiatives and different actors involved is needed - the United Nations and neighbouring countries, the Mediterranean, the European Union, the Arab League, the African Union and the Union for the Mediterranean”. The assertion is also made that a “humanitarian drama is in the midst of unfurling. It must be tackled extremely urgently.”
A meeting has been organised on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly that is currently taking place. “All the participants agreed to follow up on today's debate and underlined the importance they give to the meetings on Libya that will soon take place” on the sidelines of this important meeting in New York (our translation throughout). (FB)