UN says foresees deployment of Libya truce monitors

TRIPOLI, Libya

Thu UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said Saturday it foresees the deployment of a limited number of international monitors to ensure the implementation of the cease-fire between Libya’s warring rivals.

In a statement, the UNSMIL said a meeting was held by the co-chairs of the Security Work Council to discuss the security situation in Libya and ways to support the work of the 5+5 Joint Military Commission.

The statement called on Libya’s rivals to accelerate the implementation of the cease-fire and the immediate repatriation of all foreign fighters and mercenaries.

“The Mission reaffirms that it foresees the deployment of a limited number of impartial, unarmed, non-uniformed, international monitors, to complement the Libyan monitors deployed by the 5+5 Joint Military Commission,” it said.

On Oct. 23, the UN announced a permanent cease-fire agreement between Libya’s warring rivals during 5+5 Libyan Joint Military Commission talks in Geneva.

The Joint Military Committee includes five members from the Tripoli-based internationally recognized government and five from the camp of eastern warlord Khalifa Haftar.

Libya has been plagued by chaos since the ouster of late ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

Based in Tripoli and currently led by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, the Government of National Accord was founded in 2015 under a UN-led agreement, but efforts for a long-term political settlement have failed due to a military offensive by Haftar.

Al-Sarraj’s government has been battling Haftar’s militias since April 2019 in a conflict that has claimed thousands of lives.

*Bassel Barakat contributed to this report from Ankara.