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By Jamie Prentis.
Tunis, 28 July 2017:
Washington has urged Libyans to adhere to the ceasefire and support for political dialogue as stated in the joint declaration issued following Khalifa Hafter and Faiez Serraj’s Paris summit.
In its first comment on the meeting, the State Department said it welcomed the declaration, insisting that the US remained “committed to working with Libya and our international partners to help resolve the political conflict and advance peace and long-term stability in Libya”.
It added: “While the Libyan people must lead the process of achieving political reconciliation in their country, the international community plays an important role in supporting those efforts.”
With new UN envoy Ghassan Salamé also at the French talks, the US said UNSMIL would continue to play a key role in stabilising Libya.
Salamé held talks with UN Secretary-General António Guterres today, though little was revealed about the meeting.
“I was honoured to meet with the Secretary General …. and listened attentively to his directives,” Salamé tweeted.
However, he applauded the work of National Oil Corporation head Mustafa Sanalla and the “tens of thousands of Libyan engineers” who have steadily boosted oil production.
Sanalla has been in New York where he had separate talks first, last Sunday, with Achim Steiner, the administration of the UN Development Program (UNDP) and then last Tuesday with Jeffry Feltman, the UN Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs.
