OUAGADOUGOU: Europe must adopt a common position to resolve the Libyan crisis, which has boosted unrest in the Sahel, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday in Burkina Faso, a country hard-hit by jihadist violence.
Her visit coincided with a summit of the leaders of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger -- the "G5 Sahel" group set up to manage a coordinated response to jihadist attacks.
"We must now work on a political solution for Libya... which will be important for the future of your region," Merkel told students at the University of Ouagadougou.
"What the presidents of the G5 Sahel explained to me once again yesterday, and they are right to say so, is that Europe must agree on the approach as there are still diverging perspectives within the European Union," said Merkel.
"I will do my best to ensure that the Italian position and the French position are consistent and that there are no different voices or positions in Europe."
The two neighbours have differences over how to respond to the Libya crisis. There is also anger in Rome at France's perceived lack of support for the influx of African migrants arriving from Italy's former colony.
Last month, Libya's UN-backed Government of National Accord appealed for Europe's support against military strongman Khalifa Haftar, waging an offensive on Tripoli.
Libya has been in turmoil since NATO-backed forces overthrew former dictator Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.
"As Europeans, we will not find a solution for Libya by ourselves, we will need the expertise of the African Union," Merkel told the students in a near-two-hour exchange.
The chancellor expressed concern over the security situation in Burkina Faso, and said "we try to build links, to assist Burkina Faso in the fight against terrorism, so that you can have opportunities in your own country, so that you can live in security, well-being, and better prosperity."
Merkel was due in Mali later Thursday, to meet hundreds of German soldiers deployed there as part of UN force MINUSMA, then to Libyan neighbour Niger.
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Merkel to push for single EU stance on Libya crisis
Merkel to push for single EU stance on Libya crisis
Over 4,500 Daesh detainees brought to Iraq from Syria: official
- he detainees are among around 7,000 suspects the US military began transferring last month after Syrian government forces captured Kurdish-held territory
BAGHDAD: More than 4,500 suspected jihadists have been transferred from Syria to Iraq as part of a US operation to relocate Daesh group detainees, an Iraqi official told AFP on Tuesday.
The detainees are among around 7,000 suspects the US military began transferring last month after Syrian government forces captured Kurdish-held territory where they had been held by Kurdish fighters.
They include Syrians, Iraqis and Europeans, among other nationalities.
Saad Maan, a spokesperson for the Iraqi government’s security information unit, told AFP that 4,583 detainees had been brought to Iraq so far.
In 2014, Daesh swept across swathes of Syria and Iraq, committing massacres and forcing women and girls into sexual slavery.
Backed by US-led forces, Iraq proclaimed the defeat of Daesh in 2017, while in neighboring Syria the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces ultimately beat back the group two years later.
The SDF went on to jail thousands of suspected jihadists and detain tens of thousands of their relatives in camps.
In Iraq, where many prisons are packed with IS suspects, courts have handed down hundreds of death sentences and life terms to those convicted of terrorism offenses, including many foreign fighters.
This month Iraq’s judiciary said it had begun investigations into detainees transferred from Syria.
The detainees are among around 7,000 suspects the US military began transferring last month after Syrian government forces captured Kurdish-held territory where they had been held by Kurdish fighters.
They include Syrians, Iraqis and Europeans, among other nationalities.
Saad Maan, a spokesperson for the Iraqi government’s security information unit, told AFP that 4,583 detainees had been brought to Iraq so far.
In 2014, Daesh swept across swathes of Syria and Iraq, committing massacres and forcing women and girls into sexual slavery.
Backed by US-led forces, Iraq proclaimed the defeat of Daesh in 2017, while in neighboring Syria the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces ultimately beat back the group two years later.
The SDF went on to jail thousands of suspected jihadists and detain tens of thousands of their relatives in camps.
In Iraq, where many prisons are packed with IS suspects, courts have handed down hundreds of death sentences and life terms to those convicted of terrorism offenses, including many foreign fighters.
This month Iraq’s judiciary said it had begun investigations into detainees transferred from Syria.
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