By Libya Herald staff.
Malta, 27 February 2015:
Speaking on the record in Malta yesterday, Ambassador Deborah Jones took the opportunity to correct . . .[restrict]some misconceptions about the US position and US policy towards Libya and the UN-mediated Libya dialogue.
Firstly, the US is involved in the UN-led negotiations, but not directly in the talks – only the UN and Libyan participants are directly involved in the Libya talks, Jones explained.
In addition, Jones reiterated that the US only recognises the Libyan government in Tobruk, and does not recognise the Omar Al-Hassi Salvation government.
The Ambassador’s comments come on the back of a developing perception in Libya that the international community is interfering and trying to force the internationally recognized House of Representatives (HoR) to agree to form a national unity government that includes the GNC-Libya Dawn coalition – and that effectively ignores the democratic choice of voters in last June’s general election.
The Libyan government point of view was set out by Libyan Chargé d’Affaires at the Washington Embassy Wafa Bughaigis.
In an interview with CNN on Monday, she had said that while the government supported peace talks and dialogue that would hopefully lead to the formation of a national unity, the HoR and the Thinni government wanted the international community to continue to recognise their constitutional mandate in “monitoring and forming the new national unity government”.
She had also said that the government had wanted international support to stop arms shipments and the movement of funds by “terrorist entities”.
The perception that the international community is supporting the Muslim Brotherhood/Libya Dawn has increasingly translated itself in Libya into opposition to the dialogue, to the UN and to the US and UK.
Recent demonstrators in Benghazi have been calling for an end to participation in the talks, and had also burned American and British flags.
The US and UK have strongly denied that they back the Brotherhood or Dawn, and Ambassador Jones’ reiteration that the US is not privy to actual UN-mediated Libyan negotiations is part of that denial of any interference in the UN-mediated talks.
Ambassador Jones was speaking at the ‘Libya an Unfinished Revolution’ debate held in Valletta, Malta yesterday which had attracted a large audience of over 100 Maltese, Libyan and members of the international community in Malta interested in Libya.
The event was organised by the Maltese companies Kite and Leading Talks. [/restrict]
