Draft Berlin conference calls for stopping targeting Libyan oil, Erdogan warns of "blood traders"

Reuters reported that the draft Berlin conference to be held today on Libya, urges all parties to the crisis to refrain from hostilities against oil installations, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan considered the conference "an important step" to stabilize the ceasefire.

According to Reuters, the draft to be discussed at the summit also recognizes the Libyan National Oil Corporation in Tripoli as the only legal entity allowed to sell Libyan oil.

The invitation comes after tribesmen allied with the forces of retired Major General Khalifa Haftar closed all oil terminals in eastern Libya, despite international warnings of the repercussions of this step.

The United Nations has prepared an internal document outlining Libya's support paths towards a permanent ceasefire and an arms embargo to it. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres referred the paper to members of the UN Security Council last Wednesday.

Ghassan Salama, the UN envoy to Libya, called for stopping all forms of external interference, and said that the conference will come out with a set of decisions, including support for an internal Libyan conference expected to be held in Geneva at the end of this month.

The Berlin conference is taking place today with the participation of the actors in Libya, led by the presidents of Russia, Turkey, France and Egypt, in addition to the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the President of the European Commission.

A diplomatic source in the Al-Wefaq government said that the withdrawal of Haftar's forces from the suburbs of the capital is a prerequisite for the success of the Berlin conference.

The source added to the island that "the ceiling of our expectations from the Berlin conference is low based on our previous experience with Haftar."

"Important step"
Before heading to Germany, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday that the International Peace Conference in Libya would be an "important step" to consolidate the fragile ceasefire in the country.

Erdogan cautioned against "sacrificing" the progress made towards peace after this month's ceasefire "for the sake of the bloodshed and chaos aspirations."

He denounced the Turkish president, who did not conceal his dissatisfaction with the reception of Athena to Haftar after he left the talks on the cease-fire that were held in Moscow at the beginning of this week without signing the truce.

Erdogan considered that the solution in Libya is not a military one, and he praised Turkey's role in curbing Haftar, criticizing the international community for not showing the necessary reaction to what he described as Haftor's reckless attacks.

Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoغلlu met his US counterpart Mike Pompeo in Berlin on the sidelines of the conference.

Reuters quoted a State Department official accompanying Pompeo in Berlin as saying that expectations are modest about what the conference will lead to.

International power
For his part, Fayez al-Sarraj, the head of the Libyan government of reconciliation, said that if Haftar did not end his attack on the capital, Tripoli, the international community would have to intervene through an international force to protect the civilian population that has been bombed for months.

Al-Sarraj said in press statements that such an armed mission must be under the auspices of the United Nations, and he said that it should be determined who will participate in it, whether it is the European Union, the African Union or the Arab League.

In an interview with Bloomberg from Berlin, Al-Sarraj said that Haftar is not looking for a peaceful or political solution.

He added that Haftar resorted to calling for the closure of oil ports, in order to use them as pressure cards, after his military failure.

The head of the Al-Wefaq government said that the signal sent by the international community after the closure of the oil ports is negative and impractical, and called for the necessity of taking a firm stand on this.