Moscow - Berlin: Next Libya summit will be in Congo - and it's AU-led

The next meeting on Libya crisis will take place in Africa and it is an African union, A.U.-led process. It will take place in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo.

The January 30, 2020 meeting was communicated in a press release by the AU Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat after taking part in a Berlin conference over the weekend seeking to bring peace to the troubled North African country.

The meeting will be under the aegis of the A.U. High Level Committee on Libya. The body “is expected to convene a follow up meeting in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, on 30 January 2020.

“(it’s aim will be) to study the evolution of the situation in Libya, ahead of the February 2020 AU Summit of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,” a the AU chief said in a statement. The list of people expected to attend has yet to be released.

The Committee established in 2011, same year Gaddafi was overthrown, is currently headed by Congolese president Denis Sassou-Nguesso. Sassou was part of the leaders in Berlin over the weekend seeking a resolution to the crisis.

In the last few weeks, Libya has been top of the agenda of mostly European countries. Two significant meetings were held first in Moscow, where a ceasefire agreement failed to hold as rebel chief Khalifa Haftar refused to sign.

The Berlin meeting called by German Chancellor Angela Merkel invited international actors including all the permanent member states of the United Nations Security Council, with the view to to assist the United Nations to unify the international community in their support for a peaceful solution to the Libyan crisis.

Full Statement: Communique on the Libya Conference in Berlin

The Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat attended a conference on Libya in Berlin, Germany, at the invitation of Chancellor Angela Merkel, alongside President Denis Sassou Nguesso, Chairperson of the AU High-Level Committee on Libya.

The conference, which invited international actors including all the permanent member states of the United Nations Security Council, had for its objective to assist the United Nations to unify the international community in their support for a peaceful solution to the Libyan crisis.

The Chairperson reiterated the African position in support of a full and unconditional ceasefire, the respect for the UN arms embargo and the need for violators to face sanctions, and the return to an inclusive Libyan-led and owned political process that includes an effective follow-up monitoring mechanism.

The African Union High Level Committee on Libya, established in 2011, is expected to convene a follow up meeting in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, on 30 January 2020, to study the evolution of the situation in Libya, ahead of the February 2020 AU Summit of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.