London will host on Wednesday a six-party ministerial meeting in the presence of the foreign ministers of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the United Nations envoy to Libya, Ghassan Salameh.
Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Abou Zeid said the meeting was aimed at reviewing the outcome of talks between Salameh and the different Libyan parties, in addition to efforts to resolve the crisis and consolidate accord and reconciliation.
In a statement, Abou Zeid said that the meeting was based on a British initiative to bolster efforts towards achieving national reconciliation in Libya.
It also calls for pushing for the implementation of the Skhirat Agreement by emphasizing the role of the UN, ahead of the high-level meeting on Libya, which was called for by the UN secretary general on the sidelines of next week’s UN General Assembly.
Salameh, for his part, warned that overlapping European and Middle Eastern peace initiatives for Libya were hampering his work to reach a settlement for the ongoing crisis.
In remarks to the Italian newspaper La Stampa on Friday, the UN envoy said: “There are six or seven different operations in front of Libyans’ eyes. Too many cooks spoil the broth.”
Hours before the London meeting, Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano held a telephone conversation with Salameh, the Italian foreign ministry said in a statement.
It noted that the two sides discussed a number of issues related to the political process to resolve the crisis in Libya.
The Italian minister reaffirmed his country’s full commitment to ensure the unity of the UN mission to “avoid losses and maintain the cohesion of the international community in support of the ongoing negotiations.”
The UN envoy highlighted “an important step forward”, pointing out that an agreement was reached on the need to amend the Skhirat deal, which was concluded two years ago in Morocco under UN auspices, said the Italian ministry’s statement.
