Moroccan Foreign Minister, Nasser Bourita held a telephone call with his Italian counterpart, Luigi Di Maio to discuss various regional issues. The discussions included the latest developments in the situation in Libya.
According to a joint statement published by the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bourita and Di Maio discussed the most pressing issues facing the region, two days before their participation in the Paris Conference on Libya, set to be held on Friday.
On Monday, during a meeting with his Greek counterpart, Nikos Dendias, di Maio stressed the need for the withdrawal of all foreign fighters from Libya, and holding the elections on their scheduled date.
They discussed the latest developments in the Libyan crisis, especially with regard to the Libyan Presidential Council’s decision to suspend Foreign Minister Najla Al-Mangoush on administrative violation charges.
The Greek FM reiterated the need to hold a new summit to give an explicit signal to withdraw foreign fighters and mercenaries from Libya, ahead of holding the long-awaited Presidential elections slated for 24 December.
Last month, the Italian FM discussed with Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov the political settlement in Libya. The meeting came on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Rome, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“The two sides stressed the necessity of further efforts to ensure the inclusivity of political settlement in Libya, ahead of the elections,” the Ministry said.
The talks also reaffirmed the importance of Libyan political leaders taking the steps necessary to hold national Parliamentary and Presidential elections on 24 December.
“Both sides noted the high level of bilateral cooperation and reiterated their commitment to further work to find ways to strengthen political dialogue, expand trade-and-economic research and humanitarian ties. They also discussed a schedule of further political contacts,” it said.
On his part, Lavrov said Moscow supports Libya’s election process, and efforts to form a unified military. It pointed out that the two countries “see eye to eye on the importance of the withdrawal of foreign troops.”