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.



Israeli Forces Surround Lebanon’s Khiam Ahead of Storming it

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the village of al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, northern Israel, 22 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the village of al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, northern Israel, 22 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)
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Israeli Forces Surround Lebanon’s Khiam Ahead of Storming it

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the village of al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, northern Israel, 22 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the village of al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, northern Israel, 22 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)

Israeli forces have blocked supply routes to the southern Lebanese border city of al-Khiam ahead of storming it.

They have also surrounded the strategic city with Hezbollah fighters still inside, launching artillery and air attacks against them.

Hezbollah fighters have been holding out in Khiam for 25 days. The capture of the city would be significant and allow Israeli forces easier passage into southern Lebanon.

Field sources said Israeli forces have already entered some neighborhoods of Khiam from its eastern and southern outskirts, expanding their incursion into its northern and eastern sectors to fully capture the city.

They cast doubt on claims that the city has been fully captured, saying fighting is still taking place deeper inside its streets and alleys, citing the ongoing artillery fire and drone and air raids.

Israel has already cut off Hezbollah’s supply routes by seizing control of Bourj al-Mamlouk, Tall al-Nahas and olive groves in al-Qlaa in the Marayoun region. Its forces have also fanned out to the west towards the Litani River.

The troops have set up a “line of fire” spanning at least seven kms around Khiam to deter anti-tank attacks from Hezbollah and to launch artillery, drone and aerial attacks, said the sources.

The intense pressure has forced Hezbollah to resort to suicide drone attacks against Israeli forces.

Hezbollah’s al-Manar television said Israeli forces tried to carry out a new incursion towards Khiam’s northern neighborhoods.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that since Friday night, Israeli forces have been using “all forms of weapons in their attempt to capture Khiam, which Israel views as a strategic gateway through which it can make rapid ground advances.”

It reported an increase in air and artillery attacks in the past two days as the forces try to storm the city.

The troops are trying to advance on Khiam by first surrounding it from all sides under air cover, it continued.

They are also booby-trapping some homes and buildings and then destroying them, similar to what they have done in other southern towns, such as Adeisseh, Yaround, Aitaroun and Mais al-Jabal.

Khiam holds symbolic significance to the Lebanese people because it was the first city liberated following Israel’s implementation of United Nations Security Council 425 on May 25, 2000, that led to its withdrawal from the South in a day that Hezbollah has since declared Liberation Day.