Libya aspires to role for LCBC countries in securing its borders to promote democracy - Al-Manfi
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The chairman of the Libyan Presidential Council, Mohamed Al-Manfi, said here Tuesday Libya aspires, within the framework of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) system to have the countries of the region play a greater role in securing its southern borders.
This, he observed, would reduce threats to its stability in a way that serves the democratic transition and puts an end to unstable transitional stages.
In a speech during his participation in the proceedings of the 16th session of the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, in Abuja, that the Libyan Presidential Council still placed great confidence in the African Union (AU).
In this regard, it is the determination of the Libyan people to contribute seriously and effectively to achieving a comprehensive reconciliation in the country.
He added that national reconciliation represented the first stone in building a fair and transparent democratic system acceptable to the Libyan people and all political parties in the Libyan state to get the country out of the political stalemate.
M. Al-Manfi, commended the prominent role played by the Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, in guiding the work of the Commission throughout this year 2022 to implement the annual work plan approved at the 67th session in Niamey, Niger.
Also, in view of the exceptional and financing circumstances that the countries of the Lake Chad Basin region, including Libya, are going through, the Libyan council chairman indicated that his country's contribution to the financing base of the annual plan was limited due to the constraining political circumstances in the country, which prevented the adoption of the general state budget for the year 2022.
However, he expressed the aspiration to continue working hard in the coming year to achieve higher rates of realization in the axes of the development and security plan for the region.
He added that this was why working to achieve the development goals in the fields of economy, health and education, represented an irreplaceable and unavoidable task.
He reiterated Libya's firm position on the need for international organizations and countries affected by migration and cross-border crime to assume their responsibilities and "fulfil their obligations to reduce these destructive phenomena for our societies and the societies of the destination countries on the other side of the Mediterranean".
"We have said more than once, in all international fora, that attempts to stop immigration and terrorism with security and military solutions alone will not work, but rather make things worse," Al-Manfi stressed.
He added that until the peoples of the African continent lived in security and prosperity, the sea would not stand in the way of those who aspired to get out of the suffering of the people of this troubled region.
He said "the challenges we face in the Lake Chad Basin region are great, in terms of food security, droughts and the receding waters represent the greatest environmental challenge for our region, given the great dependence on them in the pastoral and agricultural sectors, which represent the lifeblood of the communities in the region.
The Libyan official, however, asserted that the solutions were not impossible because in addition to benefiting from the environmental programmes offered and sponsored by international organizations and donors, it also required the implementation of advanced technological and agricultural programmes to effectively use the waters of Lake Chad to achieve the highest economic return objective of the pastoral and agricultural sectors.
In this regard, he called for involvement in the international programmes proposed by international organizations and donor countries to achieve this objective.
He also urged the integration and assimilation of development plans for irrigation infrastructure and livestock production in the Lake Chad Basin countries, with the aim of achieving the optimal use of the lake water. -0- PANA BY/IS/BBA/RA 29Nov2022
