Germany to host conference on Libya peace talks in Berlin

FILE PHOTO: Turkish lawmakers vote a bill that allows troop deployment to Libya, at the Parliament in Ankara, Turkey, January 2, 2020. /Reuters

Berlin hopes to get all international players to use their influence to push for progress on Libya peace talks, a German Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Wednesday, setting out modest ambitions for a Berlin peace conference this weekend.

Spokesman Rainer Breul said the aim was “broader” than the Moscow conference, whose aim had been to secure a ceasefire.

A German government spokesman declined to give a precise list of the conference's participants and could not confirm whether Libya's Fayez al-Serraj and Khalifa Haftar would attend Sunday's summit, but said the invitations had “resonated” well with the invitees.

Berlin has invited al-Serraj, who heads the internationally recognized government in Tripoli, and Haftar, who leads the Libyan National Army, an armed group in the east that does not recognize the Tripoli government.

MeanwhileTurkish President Tayyip Erdogan and U.S. President Donald Trump discussed developments in Libya in a phone call, Turkey's presidency said on Wednesday, days ahead of a summit in Berlin which will address the Libyan conflict.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will host leaders of Turkey, Russia, Britain and Italy on Sunday at the summit, which follows a meeting in Moscow on Monday where Libya's warring parties failed to sign a ceasefire agreement.

Source(s): Reuters