PARIS (Reuters) – The leaders of France, Germany and Italy on Saturday threatened for the first time to apply sanctions against countries that continued to violate a United Nations arms embargo against Libya.
French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte called on “all foreign actors to end their growing interference and fully respect the arms embargo established by the Security Council of the United Nations “in a joint statement issued by the French presidency after meeting in Brussels.
“We are ready to consider the possible use of sanctions if breaches of the embargo continue at sea, on land or in the air, and we look forward to the proposals that the High Representative of the European Union for foreign affairs and security policy will make in this sense “they said
Turkey has decisively intervened in recent weeks in Libya, providing air support, weapons and allied fighters from Syria to help the internationally recognized government based in Tripoli repel a yearlong assault by the forces of Eastern Commander Khalifa Haftar.
Haftar is backed by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Russia, which have also been accused by the UN of breaking the embargo.
On Saturday, the Tripoli-based government brought the fighters closer to Sirte, a gateway to Libya’s main oil terminals, which the government says it plans to recover from Haftar’s forces.
France has faced criticism for its ambiguity regarding Haftar, having previously backed him in the fight against Islamist militants.
The joint statement Saturday was the first time that the three major powers threatened sanctions amid fears of a further escalation on the ground. [nL5N2EP0BU]
“We share serious concerns about the growing military tensions in this country and the increased risk of regional escalation,” they said. “Therefore, we call on all Libyan parties and their foreign supporters to immediately stop the fighting and end the ongoing military escalation across the country.”
Diplomats have said that European Union nations could also consider imposing sanctions on people on both sides of Libya.
Report by John Irish; Kevin Liffey and Hugh Lawson Edition
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