Foreign ministers from countries neighbouring Libya met in Cairo on 25 August to discuss the security situation and floundering political process in the troubled country. It was the fourth such meeting since Libya began its slide into anarchy. The meeting was convened against a backdrop of fierce fighting in Tripoli and Benghazi and heated disputes between the recently elected parliament and the General National Congress (GNC) it was intended to replace. Foreign ministers of Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Niger, Chad and Sudan attended the meeting, along with the new director of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Arab League envoy to Libya Nasser Al-Qudwa, and representatives of the African Union and European Union. The participants called for an immediate halt to all military operations in order to support the political process, and for dialogue between political factions that renounce violence with the aim of drafting a new constitution. The ministers underscored the central role Libya's neighbouring states can play in defusing the situation and asked to be included in regional and international initiatives seeking to promote a consensual settlement. The closing statement of the foreign ministers' meeting called for a phased reciprocal arrangement in which all militias would lay down their arms. The ensuing peace process, it said, should be supervised by countries neighbouring Libya. The statement underscored the need for outside parties to stop supplying militias with weapons. It called for tighter surveillance of all naval, air and land ports in Libya. The only arms supplied to Libya should be those requested by the Libyan government and approved by the UN Security Council sanctions committee. The statement emphasised the need to support the legitimate institutions of the Libyan government, parliament above all, and to rehabilitate the army and police within the framework of peace-building programmes that generate lasting stability. It called for a comprehensive programme to assist the Libyan government in its efforts to secure and regulate its borders and halt all cross-border smuggling, and for the introduction of mechanisms capable of holding to account individuals or groups who obstruct the political process. The statement called for the creation of a political and security team, supervised by the foreign ministers of Libya's neighbours, to monitor implementation of recommendations in cooperation with Arab and African envoys. Participants at the Cairo meeting asked Egypt's president to convey their statement to the UN Security Council, the UN Secretary-General, the Arab League Secretary-General, the African Union Commission and the Spanish government, so it could be discussed at the Madrid conference, held yesterday (27 August). No date has been set for a fifth meeting, though the foreign ministers said they are willing to reconvene at the earliest opportunity. They also said they welcomed international initiatives to help in the reconstruction and development of Libyan state institutions in cooperation with Libya's neighbours, including the training of border guards, the supply of monitoring and surveillance equipment, and help in pressing for punitive measures, not excluding Security Council-imposed sanctions, against individuals and groups that refuse to engage peacefully with the political process. The foreign ministers emphasised the need for their governments to act urgently, in coordination with the Libyan government, in order to respond to the latest developments in the framework of a joint initiative proposed by Libya's neighbours. The initiative will uphold Libya's territorial integrity, the principle of non-intervention in Libya's domestic affairs and the preservation of Libya's political independence. It will seek a halt to all forms of violence and terrorism in Libya, and to empower the Libyan state so that it can reassert its authority over Libyan soil. Participants listened to a report presented by Tunisian Foreign Minister Mongi Hamdi monitoring the latest developments in Libya. In their concluding statement the ministers reiterated their belief “in the importance of achieving peace and in the need to restore security in Libya and to marshal support for the legitimate institutions of government and, above all, the elected parliament which is a manifestation of the will of the people ... so as to help our Libyan brothers complete the path of democratic transition in a climate of security and stability through the creation, as soon as possible, of a capable national government.” Following the meeting, Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri and his Libyan counterpart, Mohamed Abdel-Aziz, held a joint press conference at which they stressed that Libya's neighbours were committed to supporting the political process in Libya and to adopting the initiative forwarded by Egypt for the phased collection of weapons. After thanking Egypt for hosting the meeting, Abdel Aziz said the Libyan government welcomed the Egyptian initiative “which displayed strong political commitment on the part of Libya's neighbours to keep the Libyan question at the centre of their attention.” He praised the initiative for its focus on security, and said he was heartened by the foreign ministers' acknowledgement that the recently elected parliament was a result of a free and fair poll and represented the highest authority in the country. “Libya values Egypt's proposals as laid out in the closing statement of the meeting,” he said. “They focus on political and security aspects, and address the need for a mechanism to implement any agreed provisions. They also recognise that the Chamber of Deputies, elected in free and fair polls, is now the highest authority in the country and the body that must lead the country preparatory to forming a government.” He continued, “Libya's neighbours are influential in the regional sphere and seek to support dialogue and Libyan legitimacy. There is no separation between the regional and international dimensions. The initiative is an integral part of the efforts that are being exerted to affirm Libyan legitimacy.”
