France, Germany and Italy declare Saturday ready to consider sanctions against the foreign powers to violate the arms embargo in Libya, and called on all foreign actors to stop their interference " in the country's civil war since 2011. "We call on all foreign actors to stop their interference and comply with the arms embargo established by the security Council of the united Nations," write in a joint statement, Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron, and Giuseppe Conte.
The three european leaders say they are "prepared to consider the possible use of sanctions if the violations of the embargo on the sea, on land, in the air and continues," in this press release, published on the margins of the negotiations on a recovery plan post-coronavirus in Brussels. "We call on all parties in Libya, as well as their international supporters for an immediate cessation of the fighting ", added the officers, who express "serious concerns" vis-à-vis " the increase of military tension in the country." No country has, however, been specifically mentioned.
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Concerns
Libya is being torn apart by a conflict between two rival powers, each backed by foreign States : the Government of national unity (GNA), recognized by the UN and based in Tripoli, and the marshal Khalifa Haftar, who reigns over the East and a part of the South. The first one is supported by Turkey, which has military on the spot, and the second by Egypt neighbor, the united arab Emirates and Russia.
violations of the arms embargo, imposed on Libya since 2011, are the subject of increasing concerns, while the foreign interventions in the conflict are multiplying. At the beginning of July, the secretary-general of the united nations, Antonio Guterres, has complained of "foreign interference has reached unprecedented levels" in Libya, with " the delivery of sophisticated equipment and the number of mercenaries involved in the fighting ".
