On his trip to North Africa, Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas experienced a moment of shock during an unannounced visit to Libya. Shortly before his departure, an interview with journalists at the airport in the coastal city of Suara was abruptly stopped by the security forces traveling along.
The reason: An aircraft had been sighted that was initially assigned to the rebels around the mighty General Chalifa Haftar. Maas and his entire delegation had to return to the armored vehicles for a few minutes. The alarm then turned out to be wrong: it was just a rumor of militia, it was said.
In the unannounced visit to Libya, Maas pleaded for an end to foreign interference in the crisis country. That was one of the goals of a conference on Libya, which will take place in Berlin in a few weeks.
Maas on Monday in Tunisia
That's why the minister also met Prime Minister Fajis al-Sarradsch, who heads the internationally recognized government. But it controls only a small part of the country. Wide areas are dominated by Haftar, who wants to conquer all Libya with his rebel army.
The "foreign influences" are a "fundamental problem" of the Libyan crisis, Maas said. He spoke at a press conference with his Libyan counterpart Mohammed Tahar Siala and UN Special Envoy for Libya, Ghassan Salamé. The three had previously met together the leader of the internationally recognized Libyan unity government, Fajes al-Sarradsch.
Since the fall of long-time ruler Muammar al-Gaddafi in 2011, there is chaos in the North African country. In Libya, pro-government troops and units of rogue General Haftar fiercely fought for supremacy.
According to UN data, more than a thousand people have been killed so far and around 120,000 people have been displaced. A number of countries are being accused of holding a proxy war in Libya. While the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Saudi Arabia are accused of supporting Haftar, Turkey and Qatar should be on the side of the unity government.
On Monday, Maas is expected in Tunisia. In addition to the relations between the two countries, he will also be dealing with crisis management in the region - above all in neighboring Libya. In Egypt, a conversation with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is planned.