Representatives from Libya's armed groups are not attending the conference, which opened on Wednesday and is being attended by representative from 16 nations, the UN and the Arab League.
Al Jazeera's Stefanie Dekker, reporting from Madrid, said the conference may not reconcile the warring sides.
"It is very difficult to see how they can achieve something here that is going to have a real impact on the ground especially because the government in Tripoli, the opposition, is not here. They [Tripoli government] does hold sway and have strong militia," she said.
Libya has two competing governments which were both sworn in this month. The country's former government in the capital Tripoli is refusing to accept the new one in the remote eastern city of Tobruk.
Libya's government and elected House of Representatives last month relocated to Tobruk after an armed group from the western city of Misrata seized Tripoli and most government institutions.
- The Madrid conference is taking place against this background of continued unrest across Libya.
Nine soldiers were killed and 30 others were wounded when the Islamists made a new push to approach the airport, a hospital medic said.
- "We are still controlling the airport," Saqer al-Jouroushi, Khalifa Haftar's air defence commander, told Reuters news agency, adding that his troops had managed to ready four old helicopters and four MiG fighters from the era of toppled leader Muammar Gaddafi.
- Haftar, who served in Gaddafi's army and was accused by the post-revolution government of trying to stage a coup against it, has declared war on several Islamist factions and teamed up with government forces in Benghazi.
Western powers and Libya's neighbours fear the country will turn into a failed state.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/09/madrid-conference-seeks-end-libya-crisis-201491710586811538.html
17/9/14
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Related:
Haftar's group claims Libya air raid
Qatar rejects accusation it sent weapons to Libya
Western powers call for immediate ceasefire in Libya
Russia's Foreign Ministry: Creation of democratic state in Libya is in dead end
Egypt's Sisi calls on international community to act on Libya (press conference in Cairo with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi)
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Deputy PM and FM Venizelos’ intervention at the Ministerial Conference on Stability and Development in Libya (Madrid, 17 September 2014)...
ReplyDeleteBelow is the text of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos’ intervention at the Ministerial Conference on Stability and Development in Libya and North Africa, which took place today, 17 September, in Madrid.
In his intervention, Mr. Venizelos stressed the importance of support from the international community for the legitimate, elected government of Libya and the need for the adoption of a Constitution that guarantees rule of law and the fundamental rights of the Libyan people.
He also expressed support for the role of the UN and UN Special Representative Bernardino Leon, calling on those present to focus their attention on the humanitarian crisis that has arisen following the recent clashes, as well as on the increased migration flows from the coast of Libya towards Southern Europe and the shaping of a coherent and unified policy for confronting the situation.
E. VENIZELOS: I would like to start by thanking our Spanish colleague, Minister José Manuel García-Margallo for his very important initiative.
Greece reaffirms its strong commitment to preserving Libya’s sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and national unity.....................http://www.ellanodikis.net/2014/09/deputy-pm-and-fm-venizelos-intervention.html?showComment=1410969322078#c4553086278727432770
17/9/14