Libya was on the agenda of the 36th African Union summit, which ended on Sunday evening, February 19. The country has been in a major crisis for more than 10 years. At the end of the summit, the AU announced that it was working to organize a "national reconciliation conference" under the aegis of Congolese President Denis Sassou-N'Guesso, who heads the High Level Committee on the Libyan crisis.

A national conference intended to "be the rallying point for all Libyan parties" to pave the way for "free and fair elections". This is how Bankole Adeoye, the African Union's peace and security commissioner, presents the organization's plan to help Libya out of the crisis, explains our special correspondent in Addis Ababa, Florence Morice.

The report presented by Congolese President Denis Sassou-N'Guesso, who heads the African Union's High Level Committee on Libya, was adopted by the heads of state attending the organization's 36th summit this weekend, February 18-19.

For the moment, no date or venue has been set. But a "preparatory meeting" has already taken place in Tripoli a few weeks ago, says the AU. Speaking to RFI, Jean-Claude Gakosso, Congo-Brazzaville's foreign minister, confirmed this fact. "Everyone was there. The great moment was the consensus we reached during this meeting in order to organize a reconciliation conference," he told Esdras Ndikumana in the Ethiopian capital.

New call for withdrawal of various foreign fighters in Libya

The AU must now "meet with the Libyan Presidential Council to set up the preparatory committee. And this one will set the date," adds Jean-Claude Gakosso, who insists on one point: this conference "will be inclusive or it will not be at all. In other words, all Libyan parties are invited to take part.

...In conclusion, I would like to reaffirm my optimism that the initiatives underway to end the Libyan crisis will succeed through a persevering effort...#AUSummit @_AfricanUnionpic.twitter.com/brs6igaGJp

- Denis SASSOU-NGUESSO (@SassouCG) February 19, 2023

Meanwhile, in its conclusions, the African Union calls for "the withdrawal of all foreign fighters", "foreign forces" and "mercenaries in Libya", the Commissioner for Peace and Security also said. This issue is as delicate as it is crucial, as the presence of these men, estimated by the United Nations (UN) to around 20,000 in 2021, has until recently contributed significantly to undermining efforts to resolve the Libyan political crisis.

Earlier this month, a first step was taken: the Libyan military committee met for the first time under the auspices of the UN envoy to Libya, Abdoulaye Batilly. He announced the creation of a mechanism for information exchange and coordination about these foreign fighters and mercenaries between the Libyans and some of its neighboring countries.

The African Union calls for more financial support by the UN to fight terrorism.

Among the issues discussed in details throughout the 36th African Union Summit and plenary sessions in Addis Ababa was the financing of the fight against terrorism. The continent's leaders pledged to draw on the AU's peace fund to help finance such things as the deployment of the East African Community force in the eastern DRC and the bailing out of the deficit of Atmis, the AU's force in Somalia.

But at the same time, the organization is once again pleading for a greater financial commitment from the United Nations on the issue of the fight against terrorism. Moussa Faki Mahamat, President of the African Union Commission, recalled this at the end of the Summit on Sunday 19 February:

"The debate has been going on for ten years with the United Nations Security Council. But until now, we have not had any funding from the United Nations to deal with the terrorism and to support peacekeeping missions on the African continent. We find this unfair. You saw it in Iraq and in Syria against the Islamic State... It is the entire international community that has made coalitions, spent billions, mobilized tens of thousands of taxes."

"To cope with this situation, African states are making efforts, setting up ad hoc structures like the G5. We have also reactivated the African Peace Fund. With the efforts of our States, we already have a little over 300 million dollars. This figure may seem large, but for peacekeeping, it is derisory. Peace missions are very expensive.