Local mediation efforts successfully stopped sudden heavy fighting in Tajoura, a coastal suburb east of Libya's capital, just hours before the “Trans-Mediterranean Migration Forum” began.
The Forum, launched by Libya’s interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah on Wednesday in Tripoli, saw a brief scuffle between the Stabilization Support Agency and guards of Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby.
The incident, caught on local media, showed a disagreement between security personnel securing the forum and Deby’s guards. This led to a short interruption in the live broadcast. Security sources said Deby’s guards refused to hand over their personal weapons to Libyan security at Mitiga Airport upon arrival.
Footage showed a brief physical altercation between Dbeibah’s and Deby’s guards, but it was quickly resolved.
The Forum aims to formulate a unified vision that enhances cooperation and coordination between the countries concerned, in order to develop the foundations of European-African sustainable economic and trade relations, said Dbeibah.
Dbeibah also called for reallocating the funds currently used to manage irregular migration flows toward financing development projects in African countries, according to the official Libyan News Agency LANA.
“Let us implement real projects that lead to the stability of the people of these countries in their regions,” he said.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said that her country considers resolving the migration issue a priority, noting that large numbers of irregular migrants require intensifying efforts with the countries in the region.
In another development, a spokesperson for the Tajoura Revolutionaries Gathering told Asharq Al-Awsat that Dbeibah did not mediate the clashes in Tajoura on Tuesday night.
The fighting was between the Sabriya al-Rathimi Brigade and the al-Buqra Brigade, led by Bashir al-Buqra, reportedly due to fatwas from the dismissed Grand Mufti Sadiq al-Ghariani.
The spokesperson, who asked to remain anonymous, said the conflict was resolved by Mohammed al-Maamari, commander of the Fatah Makkah Brigade Tajoura, Abdel Rahim bin Salem, commander of the Tajoura Lions Brigade, and the Tajoura Council of Elders and Sheikhs.
The Tajoura Revolutionaries Gathering announced that the sheikhs and elders successfully mediated the dispute.
