Morocco Condemns Foreign Interference in Libya Crisis at African Union Meeting

Nasser Bourita represented King Mohammed VI at this meeting, during which he noted that "the situation in Libya is degenerating, out of control and to the detriment of all, to the detriment of the supreme interest of the brotherly Libyan people, who suffer in their flesh. But also to the detriment of the interests of the Libyan protagonists, who are all, at bottom, as patriotic as the others." He finds it unhealthy that some are interfering in the affairs of a country that is already facing many challenges and that, in pain, is healing its wounds.

He affirmed that Morocco "strongly denounces" this "cynical interventionism of another age, of another era, which cultivates division and lives by it, which pretends to fill the fracture, but actively digs the gap." From the podium of this high-level meeting, Nasser Bourita declared that "Libya is capable of healing itself," while reiterating Morocco’s position, which can be summed up in four points.

For Morocco, "the conflict in Libya is not a field of experimentation, nor an arena for struggles unrelated to the interest of the Libyan people." This is why Morocco "reiterates its call for a return to an inclusive and structured political dialogue without taboos." In the 3rd point of Morocco’s position, the Minister of Foreign Affairs indicated that "the efforts of the United Nations are to be supported" and the action of the Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, Ghassan Salamé, "is to be commended." For Nasser Bourita, "Africa cannot evolve outside a conflict that is taking place within it," as it "cannot be content to observe certain commiserations that convince no one, when its interest is entire in a solution that reconnects Libya with its pan-African role, and which prevents the serious risk of propagation," he stressed.

As for the 4th point of the Moroccan position on this crisis, Bourita believes that "the Skhirat political agreement of December 17, 2015 still constitutes a reference," and that "Morocco’s strong and constant attachment to this agreement is not a primary egocentric attachment to its name or its place of signature," but "is explained by the fact that this agreement is the fruit of long discussions between Libyans themselves, and not the result of diplomatic conciliabules," he explained.

Today more than ever, the Libyan brothers have, before history, the responsibility to confront their vision and their will to rebuild Libya, rather than to confront their firepower and their capacity for harm, against each other. "Africa can contribute to bringing back the serenity that Libya needs," he concluded.