Libya: Morocco’s Initiative Bearing Fruit

Morocco’s latest efforts to bridge gaps between the conflicting parties in Libya is bearing fruit as Libyan authorities decided to convene in Rabat two technical commissions entrusted with reconciling inter-Libyan differences and implement the peace agreement concluded in Skhirat, Morocco, in 2015.

The announcement was made by the president of the High Council of State, Khalid al-Machri. Technical commissions “will meet shortly in Rabat in order to implement the peace mechanisms of the Skhirat agreement,” he said.

The technical commissions’ meeting is the result of the mediation conducted by Morocco, which organized in Rabat Monday evening a meeting between Khalid al-Machri and the Speaker of the Tobruk-based House of Representatives, Aguila Salah Issa Gweid, a first face-to-face between the two men.

“We thank King Mohammed VI for his efforts to resolve the Libyan crisis,” Khalid al-Machri said last Monday after a meeting with Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita.

Al-Machri’s statement is a strong acknowledgment of Morocco’s efforts to bring the warring parties’ views closer, analysts say.

According to Al-Machri’s entourage, the standpoints of the Speaker of the Libyan Parliament and of the President of the High Council of State have moved closer, hence the decision of the two parties to convene in Morocco a meeting of the technical commissions.

The two Libyan dignitaries held, before their meeting, separate talks with Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita, the speakers of the two houses of Parliament and the head of government, Saad-Eddine El Othmani.

Moroccan officials told their Libyan guests that the Skhirat Agreement remains the appropriate framework to settle the Libyan conflict, and stressed the importance of stability and unity in Libya for the whole Maghreb region.

The Libyan interlocutors agreed as to the need and urgency to reach a political agreement to save Libya, unify its institutions and ensure a dignified life for its people.

The Skhirat Agreement was in December 2015 in Skhirat (30 km south of Rabat), by representatives of all parties taking part in the inter-Libyan dialogue, held under the aegis of the UN support mission in Libya.

The UN has repeatedly stated that the Skhirat agreement remains the only appropriate framework for resolving the Libyan crisis.

The Arab League summit held mid-April in Saudi Arabia has also voiced support to efforts seeking to reach an agreement and end the Libyan crisis through national reconciliation in accordance with the Skhirat agreement.