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Rome: Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio flew on Thursday to Libya’s eastern city of Benghazi to meet military strongman Khalifa Haftar, one of the main players in an ongoing civil war.
The talks were taking place a day after Di Maio met in Tripoli with Haftar’s main rival, Fayez al-Serraj, who leads an embattled UN-backed government.
Haftar’s forces have been engaged in an offensive since April to capture Tripoli and force the capitulation of Fayez al-Serraj’s administration.
“We continue to work for the respect of the arms embargo and to bring the parties to a permanent ceasefire,” Di Maio, whose country is Libya’s former colonial power, said in a Facebook statement.
“There is a risk of terrorism that we cannot underestimate, countries which are ignoring peace and continue to supply weapons to the parties on the ground. We cannot accept it,” he added. (DPA)
The talks were taking place a day after Di Maio met in Tripoli with Haftar’s main rival, Fayez al-Serraj, who leads an embattled UN-backed government.
Haftar’s forces have been engaged in an offensive since April to capture Tripoli and force the capitulation of Fayez al-Serraj’s administration.
“We continue to work for the respect of the arms embargo and to bring the parties to a permanent ceasefire,” Di Maio, whose country is Libya’s former colonial power, said in a Facebook statement.
“There is a risk of terrorism that we cannot underestimate, countries which are ignoring peace and continue to supply weapons to the parties on the ground. We cannot accept it,” he added. (DPA)
