Merkel, Sisi Discuss Situation In Libya, Sudan In Phone Call

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday spoke by phone with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi on the current situation in Libya and Sudan, her spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said in a press release

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th April, 2019) German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday spoke by phone with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi on the current situation in Libya and Sudan, her spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said in a press release.

"The chancellor voiced her concerns over the current military escalation in Libya � triggered by the advance of troops led by General [Khalifa] Haftar � and demanded immediate return to talks and UN-led political process," the release read.

Earlier this month, Haftar ordered his army to march on the Libyan capital of Tripoli and take it from what he described as terrorists. The UN-backed Government of National Accord vowed to fight back. The fighting on Tripoli's outskirts has killed at least 120 people, according to the World Health Organization.

On Sudan, Merkel said the governing military council, which deposed longtime ruler Omar Bashir last week, needed to hand over the reins to a civilian caretaker government.

"This must be followed by a credible, inclusive political process that should meet the expectations of the Sudanese people in terms of economic and political reforms," the release concluded.

The head of Sudan's military council, Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman Burhan, promised over the weekend to uproot the Bashir government and conduct a new election in two years' time. But organizers of a massive sit-in outside the military headquarters in the capital city of Khartoum have refused to leave the streets until a civilian transition body is created.