Russia worried over recent surge of violence in Libya: FM

YemenExtra

M.A.

Russia is worried by the outbreak of violence in Libya and views it as a deliberate provocation intended to disrupt the recent agreements between the government and the self-proclaimed Libyan National Army (LNA), the Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

“Moscow is very concerned about the recent outbreak of violence in Libya,” the ministry said. “The killings of dozens of people, including civilians, must be condemned. It all looks like a deliberate provocation, intended to disrupt the May 2 Abu Dhabi agreements between the leaders of Libya’s East and West and to reduce to zero the emerging prospects for the intra-Libyan settlement in general.”

“We repeat our insistent calls to all Libyan sides to refrain from the use of force, from unilateral actions that may further escalate the feud, which is harmful for the Libyan statehood,” it went on.

“We assume that all issues must be settled at the negotiating table within the framework of an inclusive dialogue on the basis of the December 17, 2015 agreement, sealed by the UN Security Council resolution 2259.’

The ministry stressed on preventing “the illegal armed formations, engaged in subversive activities to the detriment of the country’s territorial integrity and unity” from taking control over the political process in Libya.

Libya’s two rival leaders, Fayez Serraj, who heads the UN-backed Government of National Accord in Tripoli, and General Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA) controlling the east of the country, met in Abu Dhabi on May 2.

The two leaders agreed upon creating national administrative bodies and security structures.

For that purpose, working groups were to be set in order to produce a reconciliation document. Once that document is signed, presidential and parliamentary elections are to take place within six months.