The American newspaper, Politico, said France had pitched the US and other countries, including Turkey, on a plan to remove foreign fighters from Libya.
The plan — seen by POLITICO — lays out a six-month timeline that proposes first withdrawing “Turkish-backed Syrian mercenaries, followed by Russian-backed mercenaries and regular Turkish troops.”
The two-page proposal has been circulating for several weeks among diplomatic officials with the involved countries, according to two officials familiar with the talks.
Politico said that in recent days, the officials said, French President Emmanuel Macron has put the idea directly to his counterparts in the US and Turkey.
“Macron discussed the plan with U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday at the G7 gathering of wealthy democracies in England, before raising it with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday at the NATO summit in Brussels.” It added.
It also said that the ultimate goal is to further stabilize Libya on the EU’s southern border, which has created migration challenges and terrorism risks for Europe.
“The idea behind Macron’s plan seems to be to tap into America’s heft and use that as leverage to pressure Turkey and Russia into withdrawing their affiliated forces. It’s a tactical shift for Macron, adopting a more collective approach that could end up offering a foreign policy win to someone else — Joe Biden.” Politico indicated.
