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DPA
Munich
A senior UN official lamented on Sunday that an arms embargo on war-torn Libya was not being enforced and that no one was being held to account for breaking it.
“The arms embargo has become a joke, and we all really need to step up here,” UN Deputy Special Representative to Libya Stephanie Williams said after talks in Munich on the conflict with a dozen foreign ministers and representatives of international organizations.
The meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference came a month after a peace summit in Berlin failed to deliver much progress in ending the violence in Libya.
Williams described a truce that warring parties agreed to in Berlin as “holding only by a thread,” saying more than 150 violations have been reported and that “the situation on the ground remains deeply troubling.” On the initiative of Germany, 16 states and organizations had agreed to end outside interference in Libya’ civil war. In addition to a ceasefire, that also includes compliance with a UN arms embargo and the continuation of talks between the warring factions.
Arms deliveries to the North African country have so far continued, a situation that UN chief Antonio Guterres recently called a “scandal.” He pointed to reports of equipment being delivered from the United Arab Emirates and through Egypt, as well as the involvement of Turkish troops, mercenaries from Sudan and elements of a Russian private company operating in Libya.
“Libya is awash in weaponry,” Williams said at the press conference in Munich alongside German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. “There needs to be accountability,” she said.
The Sunday meeting was billed a follow-up to the Berlin conference on January 19 and was chaired by Maas and the UN special representative for Libya, Ghassan Salame. Another meeting is due to take place in the coming weeks.
Maas said he still believes in sticking to the path agreed in Berlin, despite the disappointments. “We know that this will not be an easy task,” he said.
Munich
A senior UN official lamented on Sunday that an arms embargo on war-torn Libya was not being enforced and that no one was being held to account for breaking it.
“The arms embargo has become a joke, and we all really need to step up here,” UN Deputy Special Representative to Libya Stephanie Williams said after talks in Munich on the conflict with a dozen foreign ministers and representatives of international organizations.
The meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference came a month after a peace summit in Berlin failed to deliver much progress in ending the violence in Libya.
Williams described a truce that warring parties agreed to in Berlin as “holding only by a thread,” saying more than 150 violations have been reported and that “the situation on the ground remains deeply troubling.” On the initiative of Germany, 16 states and organizations had agreed to end outside interference in Libya’ civil war. In addition to a ceasefire, that also includes compliance with a UN arms embargo and the continuation of talks between the warring factions.
Arms deliveries to the North African country have so far continued, a situation that UN chief Antonio Guterres recently called a “scandal.” He pointed to reports of equipment being delivered from the United Arab Emirates and through Egypt, as well as the involvement of Turkish troops, mercenaries from Sudan and elements of a Russian private company operating in Libya.
“Libya is awash in weaponry,” Williams said at the press conference in Munich alongside German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. “There needs to be accountability,” she said.
The Sunday meeting was billed a follow-up to the Berlin conference on January 19 and was chaired by Maas and the UN special representative for Libya, Ghassan Salame. Another meeting is due to take place in the coming weeks.
Maas said he still believes in sticking to the path agreed in Berlin, despite the disappointments. “We know that this will not be an easy task,” he said.
