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.



Blaze at Cairo Telecom Building Kills 4 and Disrupts Internet, Phone

A boy wearing a mask looks on, as firefighters work to extinguish a fire that erupted in a telecommunications building in the Ramses district of downtown Cairo, Egypt July 7, 2025. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
A boy wearing a mask looks on, as firefighters work to extinguish a fire that erupted in a telecommunications building in the Ramses district of downtown Cairo, Egypt July 7, 2025. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
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Blaze at Cairo Telecom Building Kills 4 and Disrupts Internet, Phone

A boy wearing a mask looks on, as firefighters work to extinguish a fire that erupted in a telecommunications building in the Ramses district of downtown Cairo, Egypt July 7, 2025. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
A boy wearing a mask looks on, as firefighters work to extinguish a fire that erupted in a telecommunications building in the Ramses district of downtown Cairo, Egypt July 7, 2025. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

Four workers were killed and at least 22 others were injured in a fire that broke out on Monday at a key data center in Cairo, Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, the spokesperson at Egypt's Health Ministry, told Reuters on Tuesday.

The blaze at a Telecom Egypt facility, which state TV said was contained on Monday, caused disruptions to communications across the capital.

Egypt's Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Amr Talaat, said in a statement on Tuesday that services will be gradually restored within 24 hours.

In a statement on Tuesday, Telecom Egypt said it mourned the employees that lost their lives and offered support for their families.

The fire halted phone calls, and disrupted internet access, with internet monitoring group Netblocks saying network data showed national connectivity at 62% of ordinary levels.

The health ministry posted alternative numbers for ambulance services across different governorates in case people were unable to reach its main hotline.

Besides phone calls, some digital banking services were also impacted including credit cards, ATM machines and online transactions, a bank source and residents said on Monday. Banks had already been closed for the day.

The injuries were mostly because of smoke inhalation, health ministry spokesperson Ghaffar said on Monday.

The state news agency MENA said on Monday the fire had been prevented from spreading to the entire building and neighboring rooftops.

An initial examination indicated that the fire was likely to have been caused by an electrical short circuit, MENA cited a security source as saying.