Merkel stresses to Menfi Need for Foreign Forces, Mercenaries to Quit Libya

Merkel and Menfi hold a press conference in Berlin on October 1, 2021. (Reuters)
Merkel and Menfi hold a press conference in Berlin on October 1, 2021. (Reuters)
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Merkel stresses to Menfi Need for Foreign Forces, Mercenaries to Quit Libya

Merkel and Menfi hold a press conference in Berlin on October 1, 2021. (Reuters)
Merkel and Menfi hold a press conference in Berlin on October 1, 2021. (Reuters)

Outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed on Friday that Libya will remain a top priority for her country after she leaves office.

Merkel held talks in Berlin on Friday with head of the Libyan Presidential Council Mohamed al-Menfi.

She underscored the need for foreign forces and mercenaries to withdraw from Libya before the December 24 elections.

The future of Libya must be decided by the Libyans without foreign influence and a lot is left to be done before the polls, she noted.

Moreover, Merkel said the pullout of foreign forces must be backed with bolstering the Libyan economy in order to restore stability in the country.

For his part, Menfi pledged to complete the necessary preparations to hold the elections and based on the Berlin 2 conference decisions.

Before meeting with Menfi, Merkel had stressed the need for the implementation of the decisions of the conference that she hosted in June.

Days earlier, Merkel had held telephone talks with head of the Libyan Government of National Unity (GNU), Abdulhamid Dbeibeh.

She confirmed to him that Germany will continue its efforts to resolve the crisis in Libya, while urging the need for the pullout of foreign forces and mercenaries before the elections.

The Berlin 2 conference, in which 20 countries took part, stressed the need for the elections to be held in December, the withdrawal of foreign forces and mercenaries, consolidating the ceasefire, unifying the military and ending foreign meddling in Libya.

At the time, Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush said the foreign forces will be pulling out “within days” and yet, three months later, very few fighters have left the country.



France Condemns Israel's Approval for Settlement Project East of Jerusalem

The separation wall next to the Arab neighborhood of Al-Eizariya, near where the Israeli government says housing units will be built as part of the E1 settlement development project, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
The separation wall next to the Arab neighborhood of Al-Eizariya, near where the Israeli government says housing units will be built as part of the E1 settlement development project, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
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France Condemns Israel's Approval for Settlement Project East of Jerusalem

The separation wall next to the Arab neighborhood of Al-Eizariya, near where the Israeli government says housing units will be built as part of the E1 settlement development project, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
The separation wall next to the Arab neighborhood of Al-Eizariya, near where the Israeli government says housing units will be built as part of the E1 settlement development project, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

France's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that the approval by an Israeli planning commission of a project to build settlements in the E1 area east of Jerusalem is unacceptable and constitutes a violation of international law.

On Wednesday, Israel said that the E1 project, which would bisect the occupied West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem, had received the final go-ahead from a Defense Ministry planning commission.

The approval of the E1 project was announced last week by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

Restarting the project could further isolate Israel, which has watched some Western allies frustrated by its continuation and planned escalation of the Gaza war announce they may recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in September.

"With E1 we are delivering finally on what has been promised for years," Smotrich, an ultra-nationalist in the ruling right-wing coalition, said in a statement. "The Palestinian state is being erased from the table, not with slogans but with actions."

The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned the announcement on Wednesday, saying that the E1 settlement would isolate Palestinian communities living in the area and undermines the possibility of a two-state solution.

A German government spokesperson commenting on the announcement told reporters on Wednesday that settlement construction violates international law and "hinders a negotiated two-state solution and an end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank.”