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U.S. President Donald Trump and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan discussed steps to establish a demilitarised zone in Libya in a phone call, Al Jazeera said on Thursday.
Trump and Erdoğan also discussed possible ways to achieve the withdrawal of all foreign forces and mercenaries from Libya and emphasised that the country’s National Oil Corporation should continue its vital work, Al Jazeera said.
Libya has been split between the United Nations-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), and the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by General Haftar, the ruler of eastern Libya.
Haftar has received support from Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Russia while Turkey and Qatar back the GNA.
The phone call between the two leaders came after U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Richard Norland, visited senior Turkish officials in Ankara on Wednesday.
1/2 Today in #Ankara, Amb. Norland consulted with senior Turkish officials about the urgent need to support Libyan voices genuinely seeking an end to the conflict & return to UN-facilitated political dialogue, with full respect for #Libya’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. pic.twitter.com/LQXDpASZMz
— U.S. Embassy – Libya (@USAEmbassyLibya) August 12, 2020
Egypt’s leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in June opened the door for direct intervention in Libya to prevent Turkey and Turkish backed forces from seizing more chunks of lands, said “Sirte and al-Jafra are a red line”, in direct response to Turkish statements,
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights the total number of Syrian mercenaries sent to Libya by the Turkish government 16,500, the director of the Syrian Observatory, Rami Abdel Rahman, said.
