The Foreign Ministers of Libya, Turkey and Malta affirmed the support of the internationally recognized Libyan National Accord government, and indicated that there is no military solution to the Libyan crisis. The Turkish Foreign Ministry announced in a statement that the three officials agreed on points, including encouraging joint cooperation, the return of Maltese and Turkish companies to Libya, and the return of flights between the three countries.
Yesterday, the press office of Al-Wefaq Government published a tripartite statement that includes the governments of Libya, Turkey and Malta expressing their reservations about the IRINI process and its shortcomings, which is the European Union's maritime and air monitoring process to ensure the application of the UN arms embargo to Libya. Libyan and Turkish officials have previously called for this process to be integrated to monitor the arms embargo on land, air and sea.
The Al-Jazeera correspondent in Tripoli, Ahmed Khalifa, indicated that the visit of Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoغلlu to Tripoli is the second since the retirement of the forces of retired Major General Khalifa Hifter from the southern neighborhoods of the Libyan capital, as well as from the city of Tarhuna (80 km southeast of Tripoli) in early June.
Joint tripartite statement for the countries of Libya, Malta and Turkey pic.twitter.com/d8rylz84X8
- GNA Media (@GovernmentLY) August 6, 2020
The Turkish minister held talks in Tripoli with Libyan officials in the presence of his Maltese counterpart, Evarist Bartolo, and the President of the Presidential Council of the Government of Accord, Fayez al-Sarraj, said that the transfers of mercenaries and the shipment of weapons to Haftar forces by air had not stopped.
Sirte and Al-Jafra
For his part, the Turkish Foreign Minister indicated that Haftar may attack Misrata and Tripoli at any moment, and "for this, the government of reconciliation demands the receipt of the city of Sirte and the area of Al-Jafra," the minister adds.
The Al-Wefaq government forces continue to send reinforcements to the outskirts of the city of Sirte (450 km south) and Haftar's forces - backed by Russian mercenaries - continue to fortify the city.
Field commanders of the Al-Wefaq government have repeatedly stressed that their forces are awaiting instructions to start the process of controlling Sirte, as well as the area of Al-Jafra, which lies to the south, and includes an air base, and the US military confirmed that Russia has deployed warplanes in support of Haftar.
American sanctions
The United States yesterday renewed its call for a political settlement to the war in Libya, and the Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Libyans suspected of fueling the conflict by smuggling oil and drugs from Libya to the European Union via Malta. A State Department statement said that Minister Mike Pompeo and his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry, discussed in a telephone call "the importance of supporting a ceasefire in Libya through international mediation through political and economic negotiations."
On the same day, the US Treasury said in a statement that it had listed Libyan Faisal al-Wadi on the blacklist for allegedly smuggling Libyan drugs and fuel into Malta. It also included two people associated with the valley, Mesbah Muhammad Wadi and Nur ad-Din Miloud Mesbah, in addition to the Malta-based Al-Wefaq Company, and the ship of mirrors that the Ministry said was used by them for alleged smuggling.
The National Oil Corporation of Libya welcomed the US sanctions against those accused of smuggling, and said in a statement that it will continue to monitor all oil smuggling operations in various regions of the country, and to submit its reports to the Attorney General and the sanctions committee of the Security Council.