France will reopen its embassy in strife-torn Libya next Monday, President Emmanuel Macron said, in a show of support for the North African country's new interim government.
Macron met with Mohammed Menfi, who heads Libya's three-member Presidency Council, in Paris on Tuesday. Menfi was elected to the roll in February as part of a UN-hosted political process.
Menfi and interim Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Mohammed Dbeibeh are tasked with guiding an interim unity government until national elections, scheduled for December 24.
Macron renewed his demand that foreign troops leave Libya immediately, mentioning the fact that fighters from Turkey and Russia are among those who have been drawn into the civil war.
The French president said the European Union must stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the interim government to help push Libya toward peace.
Macron said he would raise the issue of Libya at an EU summit on Thursday.
Libya has been in turmoil since long-time ruler Moamer Gaddafi was toppled in 2011. The oil-rich country has become a proxy battleground for rival forces and foreign powers.
The new unity government replaced the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), which has been in charge of Tripoli and western areas, as well as the competing eastern administration linked with warlord Khalifa Haftar.
