Libya’s two main factions agree to a ceasefire

GENEVA – Libya’s two main warring factions agreed to a ceasefire on Friday, raising hopes from Russia, Turkey and other regional powers to end years of bloodshed in the military.

Representatives of the internationally recognized National Convention Government based in the capital Tripoli and the self-styled Libyan National Army led by Khalifa Hifter signed the two sides at the United Nations in Geneva at the end of a week-long meeting. And is located in the east of the country.

Both sides agreed to a full, nationwide and permanent agreement for immediate implementation, said Stephanie Williams, the UN special envoy who chaired the most recent talks. He said the leading forces should return to their bases and withdraw all foreign troops and mercenaries within three months, which would be monitored by the United Nations.

“If God wills, it will be the key to peace and security in all Libya,” said Colonel Ali Abushama, head of the government delegation at the signing ceremony. “We have had enough suffering, enough division, enough bloodshed.”

Libya has a long history of failed peace efforts and the reaction of foreign supporters who have prolonged the war on both sides of the conflict will be crucial to the success of the ceasefire. Ms. Williams stressed the importance of international support and said the agreement would be sent to the UN Security Council immediately.

Former United Nations ambassador to Libya Kasan Salem resigned earlier this year for failing to provide meaningful support to peace efforts in Libya.

Mr. Salem voiced his disappointment Open intervention of some foreign countries In Libya, Russia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, along with the defeats of Western countries such as the United States, France and Britain, faced that intervention meaningfully.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hailed the ceasefire as a “fundamental step” to end the conflict.

“I congratulate the parties for putting the interests of their nation before differences,” he said.

For the past seven months, he has been calling for ceasefires around the world to help control the Govt-19 epidemic. Guterres, in other conflicts – between the Middle East, Afghanistan and more recently between Armenia and Azerbaijan – expressed hope. – will use the “inspiration of the Libyan agreement” to follow the same path.

Mr. The latest deal comes four months after Hifter’s forces were in place Pushed into a humiliating retreat From their positions around the capital, Tripoli, they embarked on a bitter, 15-month campaign to seize power. Although the offensive ended in defeat, it always attracted deeply powerful foreign actors in the battle for control of the oil-rich North African nation.

Russia sent mercenaries and the United Arab Emirates Mr. Sent a large number of weapons in support of Hifter. Turkey, on the other hand Complex Tripoli intervened decisively on the part of the government, Sending military advisers, drones and Syrian mercenaries.

For months, the two sides have been embroiled in a tense conflict around the shirt in central Libya, where the country’s longtime dictator, Colonel Muammar El-Gaddafi, was born in 2011 and died violently. The shirt is the gateway to a region known as oil.

Mr. Hifter stopped most oil production in January in an attempt to starve the Tripoli government of its finances. But productive Has risen sharply In recent weeks, 300,000 barrels a day, amid widespread expectations that the siege will be lifted.

Mr. Although Hifter is the leader of a powerful military alliance, his political strength has been steadily declining since his forces were driven out of Tripoli in June. On the ground floor of his home in eastern Libya, other powerful politicians have emerged in recent months. Hifter has grown close with some of his foreign allies, especially Egypt.

His First interview After the ambassador resigned, Mr. Salem accused the UN Security Council of hypocrisy, and Mr. He said Hifter’s attack was initially supported by a majority of its members and had severely hampered his own peace efforts.

In an interview with The Mediators Studio, a podcast for the Oslo Forum, an organization that promotes conflict mediation, he said he had been “stabbed in the back” by the same countries.

Ms Williams described the deal reached Friday as “a turning point in history” and praised the delegates’ courage, commitment and professionalism in creating the deal.

He said it was an exceptional role model for Libyan politicians facing the challenge of turning the ceasefire into a broader political solution in the talks to open in Tunis in early November.

Both sides agreed on Wednesday to reopen road and air links across the country.

The agreement on Friday aims to mobilize and disarm the security forces, disarm and reorganize the various armed forces.

Both sides agreed on measures to re-establish national control over key institutions such as oil facilities and the central bank, Ms Williams said.

Nick Cumming-Bruce from Geneva and Declan Walsh from Nairobi, Kenya reported.