(Author: Libyan Gazette Editorial Staff)
The French government excluded Libya from a meeting in Paris on Monday to discuss the crisis in the North African country.
French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said, “I took this initiative on behalf of France because we want the government of national accord of Mr Sarraj to succeed.”
The meeting, which achieved very little progress in reaching a peace deal, included representatives from Italy, Germany, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey Spain, UAE, UK and US.
Martin Kobler, the UN special envoy to Libya, and Federica Mogherini, the EU foreign policy chief, were also in attendance.
However, Libyan news agencies have revealed that the French government did not invite a representative from the Libyan government to attend the meeting which discussed the situation in Libya.
The meeting was held only days after the Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Al-Sarraj was in Paris meeting with the French President François Hollande.
The Arab League said it also did not receive an invitation to send a representative to attend the meeting.
France alleged that the meeting was put together on short notice, and as a result, the French government did not have enough time to notify or invite a representative from the Libyan government.
In Addition, France also stated that they did not invite Libyan officials in the interest of having outside support attend the meeting.
Stephane Le Foll, a spokesperson for the French government, said last week that the purpose of the meeting was to figure out “how we can advance the cause of achieving the necessary unity in Libya.”
Those who attended the meeting said it did not meet their expectations since most of those in attendance were not “high-level figures.”
