Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Mr. Nasser Bourita underlined, on 6th September 2020, in Bouznika city, located between Rabat and Casablanca, that the positive dynamics noticed recently in the Libyan issue, especially after the ceasefire and the presentation of initiatives by the Libyan parties, is likely to prepare the ground for moving forward towards a solution to the Libyan crisis.
Speaking at the opening of the Libyan dialogue between the delegations of the Libyan High Council of State and the Parliament of Tobruk, Mr. Bourita insisted that a solution to the Libyan crisis is based on three fundamental principles, namely Libyan patriotism, the conviction that the solution can only be political and the confidence in the capacities of the Libyan High Council of State and the Libyan House of Representatives, as legitimate institutions gathering women and men capable of overcoming hardship and engaging in dialogue for Libya and in the interest of the country, with all the responsibility and ability to overcome circumstantial difficulties.
The Minister affirmed that Morocco has always worked with the United Nations and under its aegis on the Libyan issue and that the Kingdom will continue this approach in the future, as it was put forward during the visit to Rabat by the Special Representative and interim Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Mrs. Stéphanie Williams.
The Kingdom’s approach, as specified by His Majesty Mohammed VI, King of Morocco, is that the Libyan issue should not be a diplomatic issue or the subject of political dissension, but rather one relating to the fate of a brotherly Maghreb country, “with which we maintain a sincere fraternity and whose stability and security concern ours,” added Mr. Bourita.
“Morocco has neither an agenda, nor an initiative or path and it has never agreed to choose among the Libyans. On the contrary, it still considers that the Libyans are brothers and that they take responsibility and put Libyan interests first,” he said, noting that the Kingdom has not changed its position according to the evolution of the situation on the ground.
He stressed that Morocco has no agenda but that of Libya, nor interest except for Libya, or a proposal beyond what was agreed by the Libyans, reiterating that the Kingdom is driven only by the sole desire and impartial ambition to serve Libya and stand by its side and support the Libyan people.
In this context, Mr. Bourita went on, Morocco has always been and will continue to be ready to create the space where the Libyans can discuss in a constructive and positive spirit in order to move forward according to the agenda they choose themselves, and to promote an inter-Libyan dialogue without interference in the delegations, nor in the agenda or in the results, adding that the Kingdom will applaud any consent between the Libyans.
Mr. Bourita insisted, in this regard, that Morocco has full confidence in the Libyan parties to continue, without hesitation, on the way out of the crisis and to go beyond the equation of the winner and the loser and the logic of “any gain for one part is a weakening for the other”.
He also called for dialogue to be a pragmatic and practical approach to restore confidence, build understandings, mature ideas and consensus and elaborate agreements to bring the country out of crisis.
The Libyan dialogue between the delegations of the Libyan High Council of State and the Parliament of Tobruk started Sunday 6th of September 2020, in Bouznika.
This dialogue aims to maintain the ceasefire and open negotiations to end the conflicts between the Libyan parties.
It comes a few weeks after the visit to Morocco of the President of the Libyan High Council of State, Mr. Khaled Al Mechri and the Speaker of the Libyan Parliament, Mr. Aguila Salah, at the invitation of the speaker of the Moroccan House of Representatives.
The Libyan dialogue also follows the visit to Morocco of the Special Representative and interim Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Mrs. Stéphanie Williams, as part of the consultations she is leading with the Libyan parties, as well as with regional and international partners in order to find a solution to the Libyan crisis.
