The President of the Council of Libya, Mohammed el-Menfi, will visit Congo-Brazzaville on July 15 and 16. He will meet with President Denis Sassou N'Guesso.
On July 15 and 16, the President of the Presidential Council in Libya, Mohammed el-Menfi, will travel to Congo-Brazzaville with a delegation. The Congolese head of state, who chairs the African Union (AU) High Level Committee on Libya, has been carrying out a series of diplomatic actions on behalf of Africa for several weeks in the delicate Libyan issue , of which this visit resembles the climax.
In a letter from Denis Sassou N'Guesso addressed to Mohammed el-Menfi, whom we consulted, the Congolese head of state suggests to the latter to discuss the solutions of "restoring lasting peace in (his) country ". After calling for a peaceful solution, the Congolese president took concrete diplomatic action. To promote Libyan sovereignty, "DSN" recently met the politico-religious leader Cheikh Farhat Jaâbiri, in Brazzaville, following the intervention of the president of the businessman Jean-Yves Ollivier. The latter would be active in the Libyan file and would have, according to our information, been in the maneuver to facilitate the arrival of the President of the Libyan Council in Brazzaville. After his trips to Paris, Ankara or Tunis, el-Menfi knows that the meeting that awaits him in Congo will be decisive.
Sassou N'Guesso for a sovereign solution in Libya
Because Denis Sassou N'Guesso has placed himself as one of the rare African voices in the Libyan dossier. After a Berlin II summit which has shown its limits, Libya knows today that its future depends on an African solution. With his counterpart Mohammed el-Menfi, Denis Sassou N'Guesso is expected to discuss "the political and security situation in Libya", and therefore the upcoming elections. The Congolese president has certain assets in his pocket, including that of being able to bring together the different parties around the same objective. El-Menfi, rather isolated, would see himself finding common ground with the many protagonists of the Libyan political scene. However, the Congolese president has contacts, sometimes old, with the statesmen of the continent who, united, could unblock the situation on the spot.
For a 100% African solution
The appearance of "DSN" alongside Farhat Jaâbiri showed Libyan leaders that Ibadi diplomacy, generally effective, was revived in Libya. The Libyan and Congolese presidents should also quickly agree on the need to act for the maintenance of peace in the region, because the Libyan crisis has serious consequences on the Sahel, and more particularly on Chad. The Congolese head of state has excellent relations with his Sahelian counterparts, and he hopes to be able to implement a 100% African peace plan on this issue. To do this, el-Menfi would like ward off foreign interference, some countries already eyeing the reconstruction of Libya and juicy contracts. The African solution therefore appears to be the best so that Tripoli can retain all its sovereignty.
A message sent to France and Germany?
This trip to the Congo is also very symbolic. If he wishes the departure of Turkish and Russian mercenaries from Libya, el-Menfi does not carry France in his heart. "Give me a chance to catch up," implored Emmanuel Macron during the Libyan president's first trip last March. But the Libyan head of state would prefer to consolidate his relations with his African neighbors, such as Chad or Algeria. Denis Sassou N'Guesso, cold with Paris, can it be the solution? In the case of Chad and the Central African Republic, the Congolese president nipped the crisis between the two countries in the bud, by bringing together Touadéra and Pahimi. The experience, seniority and continental aura of the Congolese president are assets, which el-Menfi would like to take advantage of. Because if he wants to keep the electoral calendar, the Libyan leader must move quickly and get help from African countries. “DSN” could then play an important role in order to find a continental solution.
The new dynamic of Sassou N'Guesso
If he has chaired the AU High Level Committee on Libya for several years, it is only in recent weeks that the Congolese president has launched a major diplomatic offensive in this matter. After some procrastination, Denis Sassou N'Guesso ended up taking the measure of the task incumbent on him, by chaining the meetings. A convinced Pan-African, "DSN" intends to find a solution on behalf of the continent and to beat the pawn in Paris and Berlin. The Congolese head of state has another advantage: that of being less malleable than some other African heads of state, who have become the new friends of the Elysee. Like the Nigerien, Chadian or Togolese presidents. Above all, Sassou N'Guesso has nothing more to prove on the continent, where he is appreciated by his counterparts, and will try to plant African flags around the negotiating table.