Antonio Guterres has "hope" of a quick cease-fire in Libya

Audio 13:55

Text by: RFI Follow

Video by: Marc Perelman (France 24) | Christophe Boisbouvier Follow

The UN secretary general gave an interview this Sunday to RFI and France 24 from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where the 33rd summit of the African Union opened. Antonio Guterres spoke on the Libyan crisis and the initiatives to end it, but also on the degraded situation in the Sahel and on the normalization process in Sudan.

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Antonio Guterres made the trip to the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, this Sunday, February 9, for the opening of the 33rd summit of the Pan-African organization . The hot file of this meeting of heads of state and government of the African continent, it is especially Libya, where the UN is on the front line.

In Libya, the “ constructive attitude of the two parties ”

The UN secretary general has the " hope " that a ceasefire will be signed quickly in Libya. “ We have progressed a lot and (...) there has been a constructive attitude from both parties. "It could not be signed this Saturday in Geneva due to blocking points:" There are still questions to be resolved. Questions about the problems of group disarmament, questions about the final positions of the two forces, but I think there is at least hope. But the UN secretary-general says he is confident.

On the political side, Antonio Guterres strongly supports the project of an inter-Libyan reconciliation forum that the AU wants to organize on African lands. " This forum will be able, if we succeed in this cease-fire, and if the dialogue components make progress, consolidate the serious peace process in Libya. For that, it is necessary that the external interventions end. For the ceasefire to be a reality, outside interference must not continue to compromise the ability of Libyans to find solutions to their problems. "

Is he ready to see during this forum kadhafists as proposed by Congolese President Denis Sassou-Nguesso, head of the high level committee of the AU on Libya? Without answering this question directly, he wants the forum to be as inclusive as possible: “ I believe that everyone should be there, it must be an inclusive forum. There is a lot of work to be done so that everyone is represented without discrimination and without favoring any group. We are at a time when Libyan society must be able to rally to be together, so that a future Libyan state is possible. "

Will there soon be a joint AU-UN envoy to Libya? The secretary general evades the question. " This question has not yet been determined by the Security Council, but what was discussed in our discussions yesterday and we found a joint roadmap is the possibility of representation from the African Union in Libya, which is in Tunis, there is the possibility that it can sit with the United Nations mission. "

" The system in the Sahel is insufficient "

On the situation in the Sahel, Guterres is very alarming, "Let's be clear, the safety device that exists in the Sahel today is insufficient to deal with the terrorist threat. We have Minusma which is a peacekeeping force, we have the G5 Sahel, we have the French operation Barkhane and there is an American presence in Niger. All this, together, is insufficient. Naturally, if one of the parties leaves, the difficulties will be even worse. "

" When there is a situation of terrorism, we need a peace enforcement force which must have sufficient military capacity, which must have a clear mandate from the Security Council and funding guaranteed by compulsory contributions . " Terrorism is progressing in the Sahel, to the south, there is a link with Lake Chad and we have terrorist reports in the DRC and Mozambique. "

He acknowledges that for three years this request for a robust mandate and mandatory contributions has not been heard by the United States of Donald Trump, but “ I will continue to fight for what I believe. But I believe that now the facts show that it must be done ! "

Remove Sudan from the list of states supporting terrorism

On Sudan, Antonia Guterres confirms that he received a letter from Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok asking him to deploy a peace force: “ There is a discussion on the nature of the mission. I think it will most likely be a political mission. We must make the transition from the mission that is today in Darfur, it will have to be replaced by a political mission for the whole country. The Sudanese experience is an admirable thing. Seeing this people capable of building a democracy in difficult economic and social and humanitarian circumstances is something that the international community must fully support. "

The Secretary General also firmly supports the transitional government and calls on the United States to remove Sudan from the states that support terrorism: " It is obvious that the country no longer supports terrorism, it is obvious that 'They need the end of sanctions and need massive financial support. "

This interview was conducted on Sunday February 9, 2020 by Christophe Boisbouvier (RFI) and Marc Perelman (France 24).

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• UN
• Antonio Guterres
• Libya
• African Union
• sahel
• Sudan
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