By Libya Herald staff.
Tripoli, 25 July 2016:
Arab leaders meeting in Nouakchott have called on all Libyan factions to unite in the fight against “terrorists” and work together to rebuild the state.
The call, part of the final declaration from this year’ regular Arab summit, followed an appeal to Arab state by the head of the Presidency Council, Faiez Serraj, not to abandon Libya in the fight against the so-called Islamic State. Despite the absence of international supplies, it was making major gains against the terrorists in Sirte with the Bunyan Marsous operation, he said, but it was at a very high cost in terms of lives lost.
Serraj did not, though, state what form support should take. He did, however, reject any external interference in the country, a reference to the French admission that it has forces operating in Benghazi.
In his speech today to the summit, the first to take place in Mauritania, Serraj also called on Arab governments to exert their influence in support the Libyan Political Agreement and the Government of National Accord (GNA). The appeal was seen as directed primarily at Egypt and the United Arab Emirates which have been backing General Khalifa Hafter.
Serraj further noted that Libya was seeking to develop its political ad economic ties with its neighbours, the wider Arab world and the entire international community, based on mutual benefit and, again, respect for national sovereignty.
On Sunday, on the sidelines of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers which preceded the summit, the GNA’s foreign minister, Mohamed Siala, met with Algerian Minister for Maghreb Affairs African Union and Arab League States Abdelkader Messahel to discuss the support Algeria could give Libya in its present crisis.
