Bourita Says Stability of Libya is a Priority for Morocco

Rabat – The Skhirat agreement, to ensure a peaceful transition in Libya to more legitimate institutions, is worthwhile only with the will and commitment by the different Libyan stakeholders to implement it, said, on Saturday in Rabat, Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita.

Important provisions of this roadmap have not been implemented and the situation has deteriorated because the main actors have not put enough will, said Bourita during a joint press briefing with French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian.

As a Maghreb country, Morocco considers as “a priority” the stability of Libya, which cannot be a field where different agendas that are external to the interests of the Libyan people are at play.

The Libyan issue is now at a crucial time and the Libyans as well as the countries directly involved in the crisis have the responsibility to rise to the challenge, Bourita said.

Morocco and France have shared their views on this topic since a long time, he noted, adding that the two countries are moving in the same direction and that their positions converge in relation to the objective.

The Skhirat agreement should not be an alibi for those wanting to maintain the status quo or the others who would like to move toward total destabilization, Bourita said.

For his part, the French diplomat said that his country is equally concerned over Libya’s stability and security.

Stability and security not only for the Libyans but for the whole region, which wants to avoid the return to confrontation in which terrorist groups and actors are interfering, and also for the Europeans, said Le Drian. The French minister put emphasis on the need to move forward in resolving this conflict and in controlling drug, arm and human trafficking.

France is in favor of an immediate ceasefire that would allow the implementation of a process and a roadmap leading to elections, said the French minister, who recalled the meetings of President Macron with Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj and Marshal Khalifa Haftar.