Comment by the Information and Press Department on the latest developments in Libya MyZA

APO News from Africa:

Comment by the Information and Press Department on the latest developments in Libya:

We have to state that the military and political situation in Libya has grown worse lately.

On May 18, units of the so-called Misrata’s Third Force and Benghazi Defence Brigades affiliated with Ansar al-Sharia (a local branch of Al-Qaeda), reportedly carried out an armed raid on the Brak al-Shati air base near the city of Sabha in the south of the country. The attack was accompanied by a massacre of Libyan National Army servicemen stationed at the base. According to reports, over 140 servicemen were killed. Civilians who were working at the base or happened to be in that area are also among the victims of the raid. The Libyan Air Force carried out retaliatory strikes on the attackers’ positions. At present, the Libyan National Army has reportedly regained control over the air base.

Moscow is deeply worried over the surge in tensions in Libya. The killing of dozens of people, including civilians, deserves condemnation. What happened looks like a planned provocation aimed at disrupting the agreements reached in Abu Dhabi on May 2, 2017 by leaders from eastern and western Libya and reversing the emerging signs of progress in the intra-Libyan settlement in general.

We are repeating our persistent calls on all Libyan forces to refrain from the use of force and unilateral steps fraught with an escalation of the conflict and potential disastrous consequences for the Libyan statehood. We proceed from the premise that disputes must be resolved at the negotiating table within the framework of an inclusive dialogue based on the Skhirat political agreement, which was signed on December 17, 2015 and endorsed by UN Security Council Resolution 2259. It is necessary to prevent the political process in Libya from falling hostage to illegal armed formations waging subversive activities that threaten the interests of preserving the country’s territorial integrity and unity.

Distributed by APO on behalf of The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

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Wang Yi Holds Talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdoulaye Diop of Mali:

On May 21, 2017, Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdoulaye Diop of Mali in Bamako.

Wang Yi said that China and Mali are good friends and old friends, and bilateral friendship lasts more than half a century, and becomes even firmer as time goes by. At present, Mali is in the middle of a critical situation. China firmly supports Mali’s efforts in upholding its sovereignty, security and unity, staunchly backs its peace and reconciliation process, steadfastly supports the country to explore a development path suitable to its national situation, and firmly supports Mali’s just cause of opposing and fighting against terrorism. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China has always spoken for Mali from a sense of justice on the international stage, stood up for Mali’s legitimate rights and interests, and is willing to reinforce coordination and cooperation with the Malian side in international affairs, so as to play an effective role in safeguarding the legitimate rights of Mali, African countries as well all developing countries.

Wang Yi said that China is a developing country though, yet China is willing to help Mali to accelerate its development and encourages Chinese enterprises to invest and establish business in Mali. In the next step, China hopes to, together with Mali, give full play to the unique advantage of the traditional friendly relations between the two countries, focus on helping Mali to level up its agricultural and industrial development, cultivate the three major security systems of infrastructure construction, human resource development, peace and security, help Mali establish its own industrial system step by step, reinforce its capability of independent development, and ultimately realize actual economic independence after realizing its political independence.

Abdoulaye Diop said that people of China and Mali always enjoy traditional friendship through thick and thin. Mali appreciates the significant assistance China has provided since the independence of Mali. The Malian side totally agrees with the notion of deepening bilateral development and cooperation proposed by the Chinese side and expressed its willingness to work with the Chinese side to reinforce the integration of development strategies, take the implementation of outcomes of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation as an opportunity to constantly elevate the level of bilateral practical cooperation. The Malian side speaks highly of China’s role as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and of China’s actions to keep speaking for Mali from a sense of justice on the international stage and of its support to Mali’s efforts to uphold its national unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. The Malian side thanks China for sending troops to participate in the UN Peace-keeping mission in Mali. During the mission, the conscientious Chinese young peace-keeping soldiers devoted their valuable lives to Mali’s peace-keeping cause. Mali welcomes China to play a more significant role in international affairs, and praises China for supporting the righteous position of African countries on the reform of Security Council. The Malian side will firmly adhere to the Ezulwini consensus, and make efforts to correct the impartial history of African countries together with China and other African countries.

The two Foreign Ministers also exchanged views on international and regional topics of common interests.

After the meeting, the two Foreign Ministers jointly met with the press. Wang Yi also visited and paid condolence to the staff of Chinese Embassy in Mali, Chinese peace-keeping soldiers performing tasks in UN Peace-keeping mission in Mali, Chinese medical team and Chinese language teaching volunteers in Mali.

Distributed by APO on behalf of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China.

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German Government Supports Research on Namibian Artifacts in German Museums:

The German Federal Foreign Office invited Dr Jeremy Silvester of the Museums Association of Namibia from 6 to 17 April 2017 for a research trip to three German museums which house collections of artifacts from Namibia. The programme was organized by the Goethe Institute under the Visitors Programme of the German Federal Government.

Dr Silvester is the Chairperson of the ‘Africa Accessioned’ Working Group that was established by the International Committee of Museums of Ethnography. The ‘Africa Accessioned’ project was initiated by museum workers from Namibia and Zambia with the aim of obtaining information about cultural heritage objects held in European museums.

The support of the Federal Foreign Office enabled Dr Silvester to visit the Linden Museum in Stuttgart, the German History Museum and the collection of the German Ethnographic Museum (both in Berlin). He was also able to visit the Centre for Anthropological Research on Museums and Heritage (CARMaH) at Humboldt University.

The museum visits followed a conference at the Five Continents Museum in Munich that Dr. Silvester attended and which was supported by the Volkswagen Foundation, where museum curators and academics had discussed the issue of `provenance’ research on objects collected by museums during the colonial period. The study of provenance is about tracing the origins of an object, the way in which it was obtained and the journey it took to, eventually, end up in a museum’s collection.

Distributed by APO on behalf of The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany – Windhoek.

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