Libyan National Army Criticizes Morocco Talks

Libyan National Army (LNA) spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari. (AFP)
Libyan National Army (LNA) spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari. (AFP)
TT

Libyan National Army Criticizes Morocco Talks

Libyan National Army (LNA) spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari. (AFP)
Libyan National Army (LNA) spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari. (AFP)

Libyan National Army (LNA) spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari said the military has not officially commented on the ongoing dialogue between delegations from the High Council of State and east-based parliament in Morocco.

“We always seek security and peace,” he stressed.

Implicitly criticizing the talks, he added: “We are now in a whirlwind. I have received dozens of calls from activists and clan elders who are inquiring about the nature of these talks.”

He said it was unfortunate that the parliament did not clarify its goal.

Mismari also criticized the failure to appoint a new head to the United Nations Support Mission in Libya to succeed Ghassan Salame, speaking of a diplomatic dispute over the post.

Talal al-Mayhoub, head of the parliamentary defense and national security committee, had on Sunday said that the Morocco talks would be a “waste of time” if they did not take a decisive position on demanding the withdrawal of Turkish forces and foreign mercenaries and militias from Libya.

Parliament spokesman Abdullah Bhelig, however, said the parliament’s delegation in Morocco has been tasked with reaching understandings over “sovereign” positions. The talks will then pave the way for UN-sponsored political dialogue.

Meanwhile, head of the High Council of State, Khalid al-Mishri said the talks in Morocco are “unofficial consultations aimed at reaching means to start dialogue. They are not exactly the beginning of dialogue.”

The delegations are searching for ways to return to the point where dialogue was stopped, he explained.



Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Meets HTS Leader in Damascus

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Ministry headquarters in the Turkish capital Ankara Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Ministry headquarters in the Turkish capital Ankara Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP)
TT

Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Meets HTS Leader in Damascus

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Ministry headquarters in the Turkish capital Ankara Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Ministry headquarters in the Turkish capital Ankara Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP)

Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus on Sunday, Türkiye’s foreign ministry said, without providing further details.

Photographs and footage shared by the ministry showed Fidan and Sharaa, leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, which led the operation to topple Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago, walking ahead of a crowded delegation before posing for photographs.

The two are also seen shaking hands, hugging, and smiling.

On Friday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said that Türkiye would help Syria's new administration form a state structure and draft a new constitution, adding Fidan would head to Damascus to discuss this new structure, without providing a date.

Ibrahim Kalin, the head of Türkiye’s MIT intelligence agency, also visited Damascus on Dec. 12, four days after Assad's fall.

Ankara had for years backed opposition fighters looking to oust Assad and welcomed the end of his family's brutal five-decade rule after a 13-year civil war. Türkiye also hosts millions of Syrian migrants it hopes will start returning home after Assad's fall, and has vowed to help rebuild Syria.

Fidan's visit comes amid fighting in northeast Syria between Türkiye-backed Syrian fighters and the Kurdish YPG militia, which spearheads the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the northeast and Ankara regards as a terrorist organization.

Earlier, Türkiye’s defense minister said Ankara believed that Syria's new leadership, including the Syrian National Army (SNA) armed group which Ankara backs, will drive YPG fighters from all territory they occupy in the northeast.

Ankara, alongside Syrian allies, has mounted several cross-border offensives against the Kurdish faction in northern Syria and controls swathes of Syrian territory along the border, while repeatedly demanding that its NATO ally Washington halts support for the Kurdish fighters.

The SDF has been on the back foot since Assad's fall, with the threat of advances from Ankara and Türkiye-backed groups as it looks to preserve political gains made in the last 13 years, and with Syria's new rulers being friendly to Ankara.