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Turkey Has Reservations about Troops Withdrawal from Libya, Says Merkel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel briefs the media after a virtual meeting with federal state governors at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, March 30, 2021. (Reuters)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel briefs the media after a virtual meeting with federal state governors at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, March 30, 2021. (Reuters)
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Turkey Has Reservations about Troops Withdrawal from Libya, Says Merkel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel briefs the media after a virtual meeting with federal state governors at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, March 30, 2021. (Reuters)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel briefs the media after a virtual meeting with federal state governors at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, March 30, 2021. (Reuters)

Turkey has reservations about pulling troops from Libya but Russia has said it was willing to back a reciprocal withdrawal of foreign forces from the north African country, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday.

"There are still some reservations on the Turkish side but the Russia side has acknowledged that it could be done in a reciprocal way," she said.

"The elections on Dec. 24 play a decisive role. The preparations for the elections have to completed in such a way that in the end, the result is accepted."

Merkel was speaking at an international conference on Libya hosted by Paris.

The meeting, which includes the leaders of France, Libya, Germany and Egypt, as well as the U.S. vice president, is aimed at cementing world backing for the planned vote on Dec. 24 and efforts to remove foreign forces.

The elections are envisaged as a key moment in a UN-backed peace process to end a decade of violent chaos that has drawn in regional powers and undermined Mediterranean stability since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising against Moammar Gaddafi.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in a video message to the conference warned that "any party that deliberately undermines or sabotages peace must be held accountable".

Paris initially wanted the leaders of Russia and Turkey to attend. Turkey, which fears France wants to accelerate the departure of Turkish forces from Libya, has joined Moscow in sending lower level representatives.

The former Tripoli government had support from Turkish regular forces in Libya as advisers, and from Syrian fighters, the Turkish government has said.

Diplomats have said Turkey was unlikely to act before there were departures from the east.

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Lebanon Parliament Meets to Elect President

The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
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Lebanon Parliament Meets to Elect President

The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)

Lebanon's lawmakers on Thursday began a session that could see army chief Joseph Aoun elected as president following a vacancy of more than two years, an AFP reporter said.
The 128-lawmaker chamber, which has failed to reach consensus a dozen times amid tensions between the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement and its opponents, started discussions at 11:00 am (0900 GMT).
The leading candidate, Lebanese army commander Joseph Aoun, no relation to the former president, is widely seen as the preferred candidate of the United States, whose assistance Lebanon will need as it seeks to rebuild after a 14-month conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
Hezbollah previously backed another candidate, Suleiman Franjieh, the leader of a small Christian party in northern Lebanon with close ties to former Syrian President Bashar Assad.
However, on Wednesday, Franjieh announced he had withdrawn from the race and endorsed Aoun, apparently clearing the way for the army chief.
Lebanon’s fractious sectarian power-sharing system is prone to deadlock, both for political and procedural reasons. The small, crisis-battered Mediterranean country has been through several extended presidential vacancies, with the longest lasting nearly 2 1/2 years between May 2014 and October 2016. It ended when former President Michel Aoun was elected.
As a sitting army commander, Joseph Aoun is technically barred from becoming president by Lebanon's constitution. The ban has been waived before, but it means that Aoun faces additional procedural hurdles.
Under normal circumstances, a presidential candidate in Lebanon can be elected by a two-thirds majority of the 128-member house in the first round of voting, or by a simple majority in a subsequent round.
But because of the constitutional issues surrounding his election, Aoun would need a two-thirds majority even in the second round.
Other contenders include Jihad Azour, a former finance minister who is now the director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund; and Elias al-Baysari, the acting head of Lebanon’s General Security agency.
A president is needed to appoint a permanent prime minister and cabinet. The caretaker government that has run Lebanon for the last two years has reduced powers because it was not appointed by a sitting president.
The next government will face daunting challenges apart from implementing the ceasefire agreement that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war and seeking funds for reconstruction.
Lebanon is six years into an economic and financial crisis that decimated the country's currency and wiped out the savings of many Lebanese. The cash-strapped state electricity company provides only a few hours of power a day.
The country's leaders reached a preliminary agreement with the IMF for a bail-out package in 2022 but have made limited progress on reforms required to clinch the deal.