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.



Rights Defenders Denounce US Sanctions on UN Expert on Palestinians

UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo
UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo
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Rights Defenders Denounce US Sanctions on UN Expert on Palestinians

UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo
UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo

Human rights defenders rallied on Thursday to support the top UN expert on Palestinian rights, after the United States imposed sanctions on her over what it said was unfair criticism of Israel.

Italian lawyer Francesca Albanese serves as special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, one of dozens of experts appointed by the 47-member UN Human Rights Council to report on specific global issues.

She has long criticized Israeli treatment of the Palestinians, and this month published a report accusing over 60 companies, including some US firms, of supporting Israeli settlements in the West Bank and military actions in Gaza.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Wednesday Albanese would be added to the US sanctions list for work which had prompted what he described as illegitimate prosecutions of Israelis at the International Criminal Court.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk urged Washington to reverse course.

"Even in the face of fierce disagreement, UN Member States should engage substantively and constructively, rather than resort to punitive measures," he said, Reuters reported.

Juerg Lauber, the Swiss permanent representative to the UN who now holds the rotating presidency of the Human Rights Council, said he regretted the sanctions, and called on states to "refrain from any acts of intimidation or reprisal" against the body's experts.

Mariana Katzarova, who serves as the special rapporteur for human rights in Russia, said her concern was that other countries would follow the US lead.

"This is totally unacceptable and opens the gates for any other government to do the same," she told Reuters. "It is an attack on UN system as a whole. Member states must stand up and denounce this."

Russia has rejected Katzarova's mandate and refused to let her enter the country, but it has so far stopped short of publicly adding her to a sanctions list.

Washington has already imposed sanctions against officials at the International Criminal Court, which has issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister for suspected war crimes in Gaza. Another court, the International Court of Justice, is hearing a case brought by South Africa that accuses Israel of genocide.

Israel denies that its forces have carried out war crimes or genocide against Palestinians in the war in Gaza, which was precipitated by an attack by Hamas-led fighters in October 2023.

"The United States is working to dismantle the norms and institutions on which survivors of grave abuses rely," said Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch.

The group's former head, Kenneth Roth, called the US sanctions an attempt "to deter prosecution of Israeli war crimes and genocide in Gaza".

The United States, once one of the most active members of the Human Rights Council, has disengaged from it under President Donald Trump, alleging an anti-Israel bias.