They agreed on the need for a political settlement and ending military action and foreign interference.

Libyan Government of National Accord head Fayez Al Sarraj came to see President Cyril Ramaphosa in his capacity as chairman of the African Union to discuss political and security developments in his Maghreb state.

They’ll meet again in Brazzaville on Thursday when President Denis Sassou Nguesso chairs the AU High Level Committee on Libya.

The heads of state of  Egypt, Chad and Algeria will also be there.

Since the 2011 killing dictator Muammar Gadaffi, Libya’s disintegration  has been a particular headache for the AU 

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The report from the watchdog  comes as the United Nations Security Council votes for a lasting ceasefire in the disintegrating North African country.

Human Rights Watch says it traced remnants of cluster bombs dropped by Khalifa Haftar’s forces on a residential suburb of Tripoli.

The United Nations is concerned that Haftar’s fighters have not given permission for humanitarian flights to land in Tripoli.

With Russia abstaining, the UN Security Council has adopted the decision of last month’s Berlin Conference on Libya.

It calls for a last ceasefire that would necessitate all foreign actors staying out of the process to bring peace to the country that has been in turmoil since the fall of dictator Muammar Gadaffi  nine years ago.

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The wind picks up on the sea these late summer evenings, whipping up the waves. If one hopes  to navigate the Mediterranean with any safety in a small boat, it had best be before winter turns the water colder and rougher.

So this is a crucial time for those fleeing conflict and persecution back home – or simply wishing to feed a family – by crossing the Mediterranean and finding shelter in Europe.

Indeed it is crunch time for refugees everywhere as the spotlight is turned on them by the United Nations General Assembly starting in New York.

The bigoted Matteo Salvini , who aligned himself with United States President Donald Trump in making cruelty a policy for deterring migrants, has disappeared for now as Italy’s Interior Minister. 

The full effect of this has yet to be revealed.

But for now captains of rescue ships do not risk imprisonment by taking aboard those cynically thrown to their fate by people smugglers. 

Some relief then for those taking this route to Europe. Their numbers have dramatically diminished:About a tenth of the number crossing  three year ago. But the Mediterranean  claims proportionately more of their lives.

Thanks to the efforts of the United Nations High Commission on Refugees, fewer of them will be taken to Libya where they face detention in appalling conditions or worse.

The country rendered ungovernable after the fall of Muammar Gadaffi is no longer an easy option for European countries trying to reduce the migrant wave.

This does not mean European countries will take appreciably more people from Africa and the Middle East.

No more than the United States will welcome those from Central and South American countries seeking safer, better lives.

Indeed, South Africa will not be able to take in all those Africans coming  across the Limpopo and the Kruger National Park.

One must hope an international understanding can be reached that there is a universal responsibility to provide a refuge.

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It urges all parties immediately to cease hostilities and the fight for the capital Tripoli.

The statement by Britain, Egypt, France, Italy, the United Arab Emirates and the United States is the latest response to warlord Khalifa Haftar’s four-month assault on Tripoli that’s cost 1 093 lives and displaced more than a hundred thousand people.

The statement says there is no military solution to Libya’s crisis since the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Gadaffi.

The fighting has prevented the UN-backed Government of National Accord from holding elections to end the fighting in the oil-rich North African country. 

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Khalifa Haftar, ordered his troops to knock out the last functional airport in Tripoli .

They’ve killed 30 civilians and lost 22 of their own men in a week fighting.

Khalifa Haftar has rejected calls from UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to stop his so-called National Liberation Army’s advance on Tripoli.

The 75-year-old warlord was part of the coup that brought Mammar Gadaffi to power.

When he fell out with the dictator in the late eighties, he went into exile in the United States where he became a citizen.

He return to Libya for the overthrow of Gadaffi in 2011 and became leader of the NLA three years later.

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At least 21 people have died in four days of fighting that include an airstrike by the rebel Libyan National Army.

The tougher line from Washington follows a call for peace from United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres who was visiting Libya when rebels began their advance on Tripoli.

The dissidents are supported by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

However the tenuous government of Fayez Al Serraj, seeking to restore order in Libya that has been tearing itself apart since the 2011 fall of Muammar Gadaffi,  is supported by the UN.

There are fears that its fall will drive Libya back into becoming a source of illegal immigration and an extremist hotspot on Europe’s southern flank

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United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has joined Western and Arab powers in calling for peace.

ends intro

UN boss Antonio Guterres was in Tripoli visiting the UN-backed Prime Minister Fayes Al Serraj when the so called Libyan National Army started its advance on Tripoli.

Guterres appealed for calm

“There is no military solution anywhere in the world and certainly not military solution in Libya,” he said.

His appeal was echoed by the United States, Britain, France, Italy and the United Arab Emirates.

Libya is  virtually ungovernable because of violence following the 2011 fall of Muammar Gadaffi.

The UN-backed government in Tripoli is held hostage by the Benghazi-based rebels in east of the country 

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The United Nations is still urging Libyans to go the polls in the first half of next year.

It was France that pushed the disparate Libyan factions to agree to presidential and parliamentary elections on December 10.

Now reconciliation has trumped voting as warring militia step their fighting that been raging since the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Gadaffi.

The UN Libya envoy Ghassan Salame says there must be a national conference to discuss the conflict before an election can be held.

He tells the United Nations Security Council this could take place in the first weeks of 2019 with elections following in the northern hemisphere spring.

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Observers say the clashes egos between these two former colonial powers is compounding the troubles of the North African country.

ends intro

Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, Defence Minister Elizabetta Trenta and Foreign Minister Enzo Milanesi all condemn French meddling in Libya.

They say President Emmanuel Macron is dangerously rushing Libya’s disparate factions into an election this year.

They also maintain that former President Nicolas Sarkozy, who pushed NATO to overthrow  the dictator Muammar Gadaffi in 2011, is partly to blame for the breakup of Libya.

Italy opposed that NATO action. 

As the former colonial ruler of Libya, it fears France – and particularly its oil giant TOTAL – is trying to supplant Italy’s influence in the country.

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