Al-Mangoush: Libya played a significant role in reducing ISIS’s role in the region

The summit began in Rome, presided over by Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio and his American counterpart, Antony Blinken, as well as delegates from 83 member countries.

Libya’s first female foreign minister, in her address, emphasized that the meeting, as well as the participation of States members of this international coalition against ISIS, confirms a global commitment to upholding our obligation to protect our countries from extremist organizations that have destroyed cities and villages, usurped homes, and killed innocent people, as the Ministry’s information office stated.

The Minister recalled Libya’s difficult and decisive stage in confronting ISIS in past years, both militarily and security in several places, until it was crushed in Sirte.

Libya was one of the countries that had played a significant role in reducing ISIS’s role in the region, after intending in every way to make Libya a haven for its members fleeing hotspots of tension such as Syria, Iraq, and the Sahelo-Saharan countries during several battles faced by Libyans in the west, east, and south.

According to Al-Mangoush, the terrorist organization’s reliance on weak security coordination among states “allows us to amplify our collaboration to bridge vulnerabilities by cutting off its sources of funds, continuing to support security agencies and border guards, sharing information, and cooperating collectively in combating unauthorized migration flows and providing everything necessary to destroy ISIS once and for all.”

She also noted the positive signs in Libya today, noting that it will strengthen its stability and that of neighbouring states by mandating the Presidential Council and the Government of National Unity, which will be responsible for preparing for presidential and legislative elections on December 24, 2021.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs praised international strategies to help Libya, including the implementation of the Berlin Conference’s outputs on its three political, economic, and military tracks, as well as Berlin 2 by emphasizing the importance of Libya’s political, security, military, and economic stability, as well as the withdrawal of foreign forces and mercenaries from the country.

She suggested during her speech that the stabilization of Libya will have a positive impact on neighbouring countries and countries in the Sahelo-Saharan region that are under threat from terrorist and criminal organizations, as well as help to stem the illegal migration flows used by extremist organizations to transport their fighters across borders.

The Minister expressed hope that Libya would be an oasis of peace and security, with no place for extremism and terrorism, that it would add value to the exclusion of violent acts, hostility, and radicalism across the international system, that it would promote regional stability, as well as fight terrorism in all its forms.

In conclusion, she reaffirmed the Presidential Council’s and the Government of National Unity’s full commitment to international humanitarian and human rights law, as well as measures to protect civilians and children, put an end to violence, and improve the conditions of societies affected by war and conflict. Libya hoped to strengthen efforts to resist extremist and terrorist ideologies, promote awareness among societies about the dangers of organization, and condemn violent, extremist, and hate speech.