By Libya Herald reporters.
Malta/Tunis, 1 July 2015:
The Prime Minister, Abdullah Thinni has had talks in Malta with the island’s prime minister . . .[restrict]Joeph Muscat on the situation in Libya. Accompanied on a 24-hour visit by a small ministerial team, Thinni said afterwards at a press conference with Muscat that he hoped the UN-brokered Dialogue negotiations in Morocco would succeed and that an agreement would be signed in Skhirat tomorrow, Thursday, paving the way for a Government of National Accord. “We aspire to realise this agreement,” he said.
He was speaking before it became known that the GNC delegation had announced it would not return to Morocco until next week at the earliest.
Once a government were formed, he said, a main priority would have to be the fight against the Islamic State.
“Any sane government would fight terror,” he declared, adding that “we have been fighting this for some time.” The battle was of “paramount importance for the safety and stability of Libya and the rest of the world. This is a fight we all must fight together,” he insisted.
The House of Repesentatives and the government had made concessions in the negotiations, he said, “for the higher national interest”.
There were, however, “war mongers” who wanted to prevent a deal, “who are supporting the extremists”. But he was sure that “the wise and kind people of Libya will reach a solution”.
“Every drop of Libyan blood spilt is a huge loss for either side as we are all Libyan,” he said.
The Government of National Accord, once formed, would be based in Tripoli, he said but warned that if it were to be effective and there were to be peace, weapons would have to be handed in. So far in Skhirat that had not been discussed, he said.
The Maltese Prime Minister tweeted afterward that he had “told PM Thini that only feasible way forward for Libya is national reconciliation”. He had also “urged for agreement to be reached earliest”. [/restrict]
