The President of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum stated that “the Libyan crisis is very delicate, and has serious repercussions on the region, due to the growing foreign interference in Libyan affairs.”
According to Radio France Internationale (RFI), Bazoum hailed the work accomplished by the African Union High-Level Committee on Libya, chaired by his Congolese counterpart, Denis Sassou Nguesso.
“I would like to celebrate the results already achieved because, just three days ago, a former Gaddafi security chief was released from prison in Libya. There are three other major personalities left,” he said, according to RFI.
“President Sassou-Nguesso is doing the work of persuasion necessary for these personalities to be released. This is a big step that will be taken in the context of reconciliation,” he said.
Bazoum believes that the solution to the Libyan problem “can only come from Africa and not from elsewhere.”
On Wednesday, the Congolese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Claude Gakosso said that “African mediation in Libya has begun to bear fruit.”
In press statements, he set three conditions for a successful national reconciliation initiative, and for a peaceful settlement of the Libyan crisis.
These conditions include “the need to maintain the ceasefire, adopt an African-led reconciliation process, and ensure the participation of all political and social powers in the reconciliation conference and the upcoming elections.”
He also commented on the report of the African Union High-level Committee on Libya. This was presented during the 36th Ordinary Session of the African Union Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa, this week.
Gakosso said that the report “made it clear that African mediation in Libya is very burdensome, but it has finally begun to bear fruit. Libyans are increasingly committed to the national reconciliation initiative, before holding the country’s elections, which cannot be postponed indefinitely.”