Russian Foreign Ministry: Story about Syrian militants in Libya should be specially mentioned

09.06.2020, Moscow.

The falsification of data on Syrian militants requires special attention, said Mikhail Bogdanov, Special Presidential Representative for the Middle East and Africa and Deputy Foreign Minister in an interview published in the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram on June 9.

Bogdanov noted, “Special mention should be made about the story that Syrian fighters are allegedly being transported to western Libya to help the GNA [Government of National Accord – translator’s note]. The above mentioned publications portray these mercenaries connected with terrorist organisations as LNA [Libyan National Army – translator’s note] soldiers.”

The diplomat said that the Coronavirus pandemic made it difficult to implement the decisions of the Berlin Conference, and that “attempts to hold multilateral teleconferences will not help much with this.”

The suspension of the intra-Libyan negotiation process on military, political and economic issues has an extremely detreimental impact on the current situation, says the Russian Representative for the Middle East.

He also stressed the necessity to approve a new UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Libya instead of retired Ghassan Salame.

Bogdanov also noted that Egypt is one of Russia’s main partners and allies in the settlement of the Libyan crisis.

On June 6, Egyptian President el-Sisi announced the 2020 Cairo Declaration initiative to resolve the crisis in Libya, which implies compliance with all international initiatives and decisions relating to the unity of Libya. The meeting was attended by the LNA head Khalifa Haftar and head of the Libyan House of Representatives Aguila Saleh. Many countries and organizations, including Russia, supported the initiative.

The 2020 Cairo Declaration included a call to all Libyan warring parties for a ceasefire starting from June 8 and withdrawal of all foreign mercenaries from Libya.

However, on June 8, hostilities between the parties to the Libyan conflict did not cease. Due to the shelling by the GNA forces, the LNA also declared the beginning of hostilities.

Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency

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