Libya Parliament Speaker to Asharq Al-Awsat: We Back Political Solution, but After Tripoli Liberation

Speaker of the Libyan parliament Aguila Saleh. (Reuters)
Speaker of the Libyan parliament Aguila Saleh. (Reuters)
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Libya Parliament Speaker to Asharq Al-Awsat: We Back Political Solution, but After Tripoli Liberation

Speaker of the Libyan parliament Aguila Saleh. (Reuters)
Speaker of the Libyan parliament Aguila Saleh. (Reuters)

Speaker of the Libyan parliament Aguila Saleh slammed the agreement signed between Turkey and the Government of National Accord (GNA).

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat from Cairo after a visit to Greece, he revealed that his Greek counterpart expressed to him Athens’ rejection of the accord. Cyprus has also expressed similar angry objections, noting that Libya and Turkey do not share a marine border.

The Libyan parliament has not ratified the deal, continued Saleh.

“Turkey has taken advantage of the situation in our country and attempted to seize our state resources,” he charged. “The international community understands our position.”

“There are no legal grounds for the deal and the economic zone that extends 200 miles off the Libyan coast has been mapped out by the United Nations,” he added.

Ankara and the GNA signed last month a memorandum of understanding on military and security cooperation and another on the restriction of maritime jurisdiction, drawing criticism from the Libyan National Army, Cyprus, Greece, Egypt and Europe.

Asked about the upcoming international conference on Libya set for Berlin, Saleh said: “The meeting is aimed at unifying the European stance on the Libyan crisis, not imposing solutions on the people from abroad.”

He confirmed that he had received an invitation to visit Washington, predicting that it will likely take place in January.

“This reveals its recognition of the legitimacy of the parliament,” said Saleh, adding that he will discuss with American officials means to restore the authority of the state and build its institutions.

On the Presidential Council, which is headed by GNA chief Fayez al-Sarraj, Saleh said the body is illegal because it was never approved by the parliament.

The Council was overthrown by the militias that do not recognize it, he added.

Asked if he believes that Ankara may dispatch troops to Libya to back Sarraj, Saleh replied that it would be difficult for Turkish troops to arrive to the West, whether by sea or air. He explained that Greece has blocked Turkey’s way forward by sea and the LNA controls strategic positions in the capital, Tripoli.

On coordination with Cairo, he said that Egypt and its president Abdul Fattah al-Sisi have repeatedly expressed their support for the parliament and LNA. This support is ongoing through Sisi’s contacts with world leaders.

“We are also in constant contact because any threat to Libya will affect Egypt and all neighboring countries,” he remarked.

Moreover, Saleh said that the first step towards reaching a political solution in Libya lies in liberating Tripoli from the clutches of militias and foreign mercenaries. This will then be followed by dialogue.

He revealed that the parliament had formed a committee to hold Libyan dialogue that will draft the political solution “because the people will not accept foreign solutions.”

A new government will be formed after the dialogue, followed by the drafting of a new constitution ahead of staging of parliamentary and presidential elections, he went on to say.

“The entire Libyan people stand by us and reject the illegal policies that have been adopted by the Presidential Council,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“We back the political path and reconciliation, but only after Tripoli’s liberation,” he stressed.



Hochstein to Asharq Al-Awsat: Land Border Demarcation between Lebanon, Israel ‘is Within Reach’

AFP file photo of Amos Hochstein speaking to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, Lebanon
AFP file photo of Amos Hochstein speaking to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, Lebanon
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Hochstein to Asharq Al-Awsat: Land Border Demarcation between Lebanon, Israel ‘is Within Reach’

AFP file photo of Amos Hochstein speaking to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, Lebanon
AFP file photo of Amos Hochstein speaking to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, Lebanon

The former US special envoy, Amos Hochstein, said the maritime border agreement struck between Lebanon and Israel in 2022 and the ceasefire deal reached between Israel and Hezbollah at the end of last year show that a land border demarcation “is within reach.”

“We can get to a deal but there has to be political willingness,” he said.

“The agreement of the maritime boundary was unique because we’d been trying to work on it for over 10 years,” Hochstein told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“I understood that a simple diplomatic push for a line was not going to work. It had to be a more complicated and comprehensive agreement. And there was a real threat that people didn’t realize that if we didn’t reach an agreement we would have ended up in a conflict - in a hot conflict - or war over resources.”

He said there is a possibility to reach a Lebanese-Israeli land border agreement because there’s a “provision that mandated the beginning of talks on the land boundary.”

“I believe with concerted effort they can be done quickly,” he said, adding: “It is within reach.”

Hochstein described communication with Hezbollah as “complicated,” saying “I never had only one interlocutor with Hezbollah .... and the first step is to do shuttle diplomacy between Lebanon, Lebanon and Lebanon, and then you had to go to Israel and do shuttle diplomacy between the different factions” there.

“The reality of today and the reality of 2022 are different. Hezbollah had a lock on the political system in Lebanon in the way it doesn’t today.”

North of Litani

The 2024 ceasefire agreement requires Israel to withdraw from Lebanon and for the Lebanese army to take full operational control of the south Litani region, all the way up to the border. It requires Hezbollah to demilitarize and move further north of the Litani region, he said.

“I don’t want to get into the details of other violations,” he said, but stated that the ceasefire works if both conditions are met.

Lebanon’s opportunity

“Lebanon can rewrite its future ... but it has to be a fundamental change,” he said.

“There is so much potential in Lebanon and if you can bring back opportunity and jobs - and through economic and legal reforms in the country - I think that the future is very bright,” Hochstein told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“Hezbollah is not trying to control the politics and remember that Hezbollah is just an arm of Iran” which “should not be imposing its political will in Lebanon, Israel should not be imposing its military will in Lebanon, Syria should not. No one should. This a moment for Lebanon to make decisions for itself,” he added.