ROME: UN Libya envoy Ghassan Salame has urged the conflict-torn country to seize an opportunity to forge its own path toward hoped-for elections next year while “international interference” is declining.
Countries from Britain and France to Egypt, Turkey and Russia have been accused by critics of maneuvering in Libya outside of the UN process in efforts to secure their own interests.
Salame said he hoped the necessary conditions to hold a national vote would be in place “a few months from now” and urged Libyans “to seize the opportunity of attention being directed elsewhere” to work without foreign interference.
“I feel that there is a lot of interference in the Libyan case ... with weapons, money, you name it,” he told a conference in Rome discussing today’s challenges in the Mediterranean.
But he said there was now “a window during which there is not the same level of interference.”
“Support for various actors has gone down,” he added.
“There is declining international interference (and) Libyans must come together and build permanent institutions.”
Salame unveiled a plan in September for a legislative and presidential vote by next year in an effort to end years of political turmoil after the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Qaddafi.
He has insisted on a new constitution, which would be put before a referendum before elections, and he wants a national conference to reintegrate all the country’s squabbling actors.
“Elections should never be a sort of quick-fix solution,” he said, adding that the country needed to meet such technical conditions as voter registration and the adoption of an electoral law.
“Everyone who wants to vote needs to be able to do so safely and freely. We also need the political players to agree to accept the results,” he said, adding that “all conditions” had to be met for elections to be held.
After a 2015 UN-backed agreement, a unity Government of National Accord with Fayez Al-Sarraj as prime minister took office in Tripoli last year.
But it has struggled to impose its authority elsewhere, particularly in the far east, where military strongman Khalifa Haftar controls much of the territory and supports a rival parliament.
Declining ‘international interference’ a chance for Libya vote, says Salame
Declining ‘international interference’ a chance for Libya vote, says Salame
Lebanon media says UN peacekeepers hurt in Israeli strike
- National News Agency: ‘Enemy aircraft targeted a car in Sidon near the army checkpoint’
- Vehicles from the UNIFIL peacekeeping force were in the ‘same lane’ during the raid
“Enemy aircraft targeted a car in Sidon near the army checkpoint,” NNA said, adding vehicles from the UNIFIL peacekeeping force were in the “same lane” during the raid, which led to injuries among its members who were receiving treatment at the scene.
Hezbollah does not pin ceasefire hopes on any US administration, lawmaker says
BEIRUT: Hezbollah welcomes any effort to stop the war in Lebanon but does not pin its hopes for a ceasefire on any particular US administration, Hezbollah lawmaker Ibrahim Al-Moussawi said on Thursday, when asked about Donald Trump’s election victory.
France sees ‘window’ to end Gaza, Lebanon wars after Trump win
JERUSALEM: French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Thursday in Jerusalem he saw prospects for ending Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon after Donald Trump was elected US president.
“I believe a window has opened for putting an end to the tragedy in which Israelis, Palestinians and the entire region have been immersed since October 7” last year, Barrot told reporters in Jerusalem.
Speaking alongside outgoing Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, Barrot cited Trump’s “wish to see the end of the Middle East’s endless wars” as well as Israel’s recent “tactical successes.”
Barrot said he hoped a “diplomatic solution” would emerge “in the coming weeks.”
“Force alone will not be enough to guarantee Israel’s security,” he said, adding that “military success could not be a substitute for a political perspective.”
“It is time to move toward a deal that would allow for the liberation of all hostages, a ceasefire and the mass entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and to prepare for the day after.”
Barrot said “Israel has the right to defend itself” but pointed to “colonization,” “humanitarian aid restrictions” and “the continuation of air strikes in north Gaza” as risk factors for Israel’s security.
Barrot is expected to speak with Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas and his prime minister, Muhammad Mustafa
Israel signs $5.2 billion deal to acquire 25 F-15 fighter jets from Boeing
- The $5.2 billion agreement was part of a broader package of US aid
- Delivery of the new F-15IA aircraft will begin in 2031
JERUSALEM: The Israeli defense ministry said on Thursday it had signed an agreement to acquire 25 next generation F-15 fighter jets from Boeing Co.
It said the $5.2 billion agreement was part of a broader package of US aid approved by the US administration and Congress earlier this year and included an option for 25 additional aircraft.
Delivery of the new F-15IA aircraft will begin in 2031, with 4-6 aircraft to be supplied annually, it said.
The aircraft will be equipped with weapons systems integrated with existing Israeli weapons as well as having increased range and payloads.
“These advantages will enable the Israeli Air Force to maintain its strategic superiority in addressing current and future challenges in the Middle East,” the ministry said in a statement.
“This F-15 squadron, alongside the third F-35 squadron procured earlier this year, represents a historic enhancement of our air power and strategic reach — capabilities that proved crucial during the current war,” the director general of the defense ministry, Eyal Zamir, said in the statement.
Zamir said that the government has secured procurement agreements worth nearly $40 billion since the onset of the war in Gaza that began Oct. 7, 2023.
“While focusing on immediate needs for advanced weaponry and ammunition at unprecedented levels, we’re simultaneously investing in long-term strategic capabilities,” he said.
For Boeing, the F-15 agreement is the second major deal this year. In August, flag carrier El Al Israel Airlines, signed a deal with Boeing for the purchase of up to 31 737 MAX aircraft worth as much as $2.5 billion, beating out rival Airbus.
Ido Nehushtan, president of Boeing Israel, said the company’s relationship dates back to Israel’s establishment and “will continue working with the US and Israeli governments to deliver the advanced F-15IA aircraft through standard military procurement channels.”
Erdogan phones Trump to discuss cooperation
ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spoken by phone with US president-elect Donald Trump to discuss cooperation between the two countries, the presidency said on Thursday.
Erdogan “congratulated Trump on his election victory” and “expressed his desire to develop cooperation between Turkiye and the United States in the period ahead,” it said in a statement.
Erdogan was twice hosted at the White House by Trump during his first term, but has never been received there by current President Joe Biden.
