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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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Libya's Anti-NGO Push Seen as Diversion from Internal Failures, Analysts Say

Head of Libya's Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah - File Photo
Head of Libya's Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah - File Photo
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Libya's Anti-NGO Push Seen as Diversion from Internal Failures, Analysts Say

Head of Libya's Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah - File Photo
Head of Libya's Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah - File Photo

Libya's suspension of 10 international humanitarian groups, part of a broader crackdown on African migrants, is aimed at masking domestic failures and securing external concessions, particularly from Europe, analysts have said, AFP reported.

Libya's Tripoli-based authorities announced on Wednesday a decision to suspend the Norwegian Refugee Council, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Terre des Hommes, CESVI and six other groups, accusing them of a plan to "settle migrants" from other parts of Africa in the country.

War-torn Libya is a key departure point on North Africa's Mediterranean coast for migrants, mainly from sub-Saharan African countries, risking dangerous sea voyages in the hope of reaching Europe.

Anas al-Gomati, director of the Tripoli-based Sadeq Institute think tank, said "this isn't about NGOs -- it's about creating enemies to distract from failures".

The UN-recognized government of Abdulhamid Dbeibah is "tapping into conservative anxieties while masking their inability to provide basic services", he told AFP.

The ultimate goal, according to Gomati, is to "extract concessions from Europe which, fearing potential migration surges, will offer new funding packages and prop up the government in Tripoli".

On Wednesday, Rome announced the allocation of 20 million euros to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to finance "voluntary repatriations" for 3,300 sub-Saharan migrants who arrived in Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.

"This isn't coincidence -- its coordination. The Libyan authorities shut down NGOs providing monitoring and protection (for migrants) precisely as Italy announces 20 million euros for 'voluntary' returns," said Gomati.

"Italy gets to claim they're funding 'voluntary' returns while Libya gets to demonstrate 'sovereignty', all while vulnerable migrants face extortion in detention before being labelled 'volunteers' for deportation."

Libya analyst Jalel Harchaoui noted that the Tripoli government is adopting a similar tone to Tunisian President Kais Saied, who in early 2023 denounced what he called "hordes of sub-Saharan migrants" who threatened to "change the country's demographic composition".

Harchaoui, of the London-based Royal United Services Institute, said Dbeibah was facing considerable difficulties, particularly in gaining access to public funds, and his once pragmatic relationship with the Haftar family in the east had deteriorated.

Following the NGO ban, aid groups have expressed concern for both their Libyan colleagues and the migrants who have been made more vulnerable in a country that, according to the IOM, is home to more than 700,000 residents from sub-Saharan countries.

The International Commission of Jurists on Friday condemned the "recent collective expulsions, arrests, violent attacks and the surge of hate speech, including that which constitutes incitement to violence, against migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Libya".

The organization noted that the Libyan interior ministry has pledged "the deportation of 100,000 migrants every four months".