US Secretary of State John Kerry met with Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni in Rome on Friday, to discuss, amongst other topics, the evolving situation in Libya.
Kerry told a press briefing:
"[We] are both deeply committed to 6 million Libyans who are – 6 million plus who are being held hostage by individual ambitions and resistance to the unity of the country and to the interests of the country. And this ongoing struggle we believe is only empowering extremists, disruption, and costing the people of Libya critical time to be able to rebuild their country and rebuild their lives.
"So we are very hopeful that in the days ahead as we work together with our friends, the Emiratis, and with the Egyptians and with the Qataris and with the Saudis and with others that we will be able to succeed in resolving the differences between the GNA and those in Tobruk who continue to resist moving forward and General Haftar.
"And in the end, the interests of the Libyan people need to be put ahead of all of this, and we’re going to continue to work very, very closely together in the days ahead to see if we can’t quietly, through quiet diplomacy, not necessarily big ministerial meetings, but quietly move the process forward. In the last weeks, I’ve had a visit to the Emirates, an in-depth conversation with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, with Tahnoon bin Zayed, with Abdullah bin Zayed, all the folks who are focused on this issue, as well as long conversations with the Egyptians and with the Saudis.
"And my hope is – and today we both met with the Qatari foreign minister, and our hope is that there is a way to try to move forward. So that is vital to everybody."
He added:
"... our tools are diplomacy. We’re not looking at other options that – I don’t think any country is prepared to engage in sort of direct military action at this point in time."
(Source: US Embassy in Rome)
