(MENAFN- Swissinfo)
World leaders recently held a summit in Paris on Libya. (L-R) German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron, Head of the Presidential Council of Libya Mohamed al-Menfi, Libyan Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dabeiba and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi at the end of the International Conference on Libya in Paris, France, on November 12, 2021. Keystone / Filippo Attili Handout
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis held talks in Libya on Sunday on the peace process, highly anticipated elections and Swiss humanitarian work in the North African country.
This content was published on November 21, 2021 - 17:49 November 21, 2021 - 17:49 Keystone-SDA/DFAE/sb
Cassis met Libya's prime minister, Abdelhamid Dabeiba, the head of the Libyan Presidential Council, Mohamed al-Menfi, and foreign minister, Najla Mangoush, in Tripoli.
“Switzerland supports the roadmap for the electoral process set out by the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) and welcomes the holding of elections,” Cassis said in a statementExternal link on Sunday following his one-day visit.
Parliamentary and presidential elections on December 24 were demanded by a United Nations political forum last year as part of a roadmap to end Libya's civil war. However, disputes over the rules of the election threaten to derail the UN-backed peace process.
During his talks, Cassis reiterated Switzerland's support for lasting peace and stability in the country. The officials also discussed issues relating to migration, human rights and the humanitarian situation in Libya.
Switzerland's humanitarian aid for Libya focuses on the protection of civilians. It works with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the World Food Programme, and NGOs on the ground. This year it has provided CHF5 million ($5 million) to help fund medical care for the most vulnerable and measures to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.
This was the first visit to Libya by a Swiss minister since 2010. It marked the end of a four-day trip that also took Cassis to Slovenia and Saudi Arabia .
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