Germany will seek to broker lasting peace in Libya on Wednesday, gathering world powers in Berlin to extract a firm promise to withdraw foreign fighters and keep the North African country on track for its December 24 election.
The efforts to end a decade-long spiral of violence in Libya would bring the country's transitional government, as well as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, to Berlin for the in-person UN-sponsored talks. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will deliver a speech virtually to the gatherers.
The main goal of the conference is to ensure that the presidential and legislative elections take place on December 24, as pledged by the transitional government led by Abdulhamid Dbeibeh.
Berlin hosted the first conference in January 2020 and the pledges made there were largely unmet.
Doubts have been cast over the possibility that the polls will be held on time.
On June 2, former interior minister in the Government of National Accord (GNA) Fathi Bashagha warned that the elections may be delayed.
“It is clear that the present government would prefer not to have elections. But this is a commitment which has to be brought to completion,” Bashagha, a potential presidential candidate, told AFP at the time.
Jalel Harchaoui, a Libyan senior fellow at the Global Initiative think tank, said the key test was how to keep the political track on course for the elections.
“I think there's a good chance and the Berlin process could help,” he added.
The security situation in Libya has been slowly improving since a ceasefire was reached in October that paved the way for the formation of the interim government early this year.
But the presence of an estimated 20,000 foreign fighters and mercenaries on Libya's territory is seen as a threat to the UN-backed transition leading to the elections.
Western leaders have repeatedly called on the foreign fighters to depart.
"Foreign forces must leave the country in a gradual and uniform manner, so that there won't be a sudden military imbalance that could be used by one side for a sudden offensive,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told Die Welt daily in an interview.
