Five leaders of international and regional organizations held a meeting in Cairo on Thursday to discuss the situation in Libya. They focused on the need for a ceasefire between Qadhafi's forces and rebels as a preliminary political solution for the crisis. Ban Ki-moon, secretary general of the United Nations stressed the importance of establishing “a political process that enables the Libyan people to achieve democracy and freedom”, calling on the international community to continue exerting efforts to end the crisis and help protect civilians. Efforts are already being made to achieve a ceasefire and to put weapons under surveillance, in accordance with UN Security Council's resolutions of 1970 and 1973, as well as facilitating humanitarian access to the country, Ban Ki-moon pointed out. European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton stressed that the main objective of the international community is the achievement of a ceasefire in Libya, along with establishing respect for human rights, and providing the opportunity for Libyans to gain freedom from state repression and choose their own leader. For his part, Amr Moussa, secretary general of the Arab League, pointed out that the first step towards reaching a political solution for the crisis in Libya is the establishment of a ceasefire in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution. Jean Ping, chairman of the Commission of the African Union, and Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), also participated in the meeting. The five leaders agreed on the urgent need to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Libyan people, and to reach a political process that allows Libyans to achieve their legitimate demands.
