By Libya Herald reporters.
Tripoli, 23 March 2017:
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by Presidency Council (PC) head Faiez Serraj and the Italian government was never meant to include the return of migrants from Italy to new EU-funded camps in Libya, the justice ministry said today.
It was responding to the Tripoli Appeal’s court’s ruling suspending of any further action on the MoU. The ministry said the final decision on the action brought by six plaintiffs including a prominent lawyer and a former justice minister, was still awaited.
However earlier reports of the case said only that the court would deliver its full judgement at a later date, not that it had yet to decide the issue.
In a statement issued to LANA, the ministry set out at some length what the Government of National Accord (GNA) saw as the advantages of the proposed deal. These included the strengthening, with Italy’s help, of border controls and the provision of technical support in the campaign against people-smugglers.
The ministry’s statement did not appear to address the nub of the case which is that under the Libyan Political Agreement, the GNA will only acquire legal status when it endorsed by the House of Representatives. It was therefore incapable of making any sort of agreement with tItalian government. Serraj is also prime minister-designate of the GNA .
