Libya truce Archives - Iran News Daily

Truce Announcement in Libya Appreciated in UN

reporter 1222 — Mon, 24 Aug 2020 05:36:09 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The United Nations has welcomed the calls for a ceasefire and an end to hostilities in Libya, an official from the world body said.

Libya’s internationally recognized government in Tripoli announced the cease-fire on Friday and the leader of a rival parliament in eastern Libya also appealed for a halt to hostilities.

The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomes the calls for a cease-fire and an end to hostilities in Libya and hopes they “will be respected immediately by armed forces from both sides,” said the spokesperson for the UN chief, Stephane Dujarric, AP reported.

The UN chief urged the Joint Military Commission to quickly take up the cease-fire call and called on all parties “to engage constructively in an inclusive political process” based on the outcome of a conference of world leaders in Berlin in January, Dujarric said.

World powers and other countries with interests in Libya’s long-running civil war agreed at the meeting to respect a much-violated arms embargo, hold off on military support to the warring parties and push them to reach a full cease-fire.

UAE’s Foreign Ministry welcomed Saleh’s cease-fire initiative that did not include the demilitarization of Jurfa area, according the state-run WAM news agency.

The interior minister of the Tripoli-based administration, Fathi Bashaga, hailed the cease-fire initiative, saying on Twitter: “We are looking forward to develop cooperation with the US, Europe, Turkey, Egypt and the UN.”

Fayez Sarraj, head of the Government of National Accord in Tripoli, said an effective cease-fire requires “the demilitarization of Sirte and Jurfa areas, and that police forces from the two sides agree on security arrangements there.”

Aguila Saleh, speaker of the rival eastern-based House of Representatives, supported Sarraj’s proposal of demilitarization of Sirte – but he did not mention Jurfa. The United States floated the idea of demilitarization earlier this month.

Sarraj also called for parliamentary and presidential elections to be held in March according to “a constitutional base to be agreed on by the Libyans.”

Saleh, the parliament speaker, called for Sirte to be a temporary seat of the new government.

Both Saraj and Saleh said they want an end to an oil blockade imposed by commander Khalifa Haftar’s camp since earlier this year. They also called for oil revenues, the country’s main source of revenue, to flow into the bank account of the National Oil Corporation outside Libya.

The National Oil Corporation urged for oil revenues to “remain frozen until a comprehensive political agreement is reached.”

“Full transparency and effective governance are required as well as the return of security management of oil facilities to NOC’s exclusive control,” it said in a statement.

Powerful tribes in eastern Libya loyal to Haftar closed oil export terminals and choked off major pipelines at the start of the year to pressure the Tripoli-based government, which is accused of using oil revenues to fund militias and mercenaries.

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EU Urges Humanitarian Truce in Libya

reporter 1222 — Sat, 25 Apr 2020 13:04:29 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The foreign ministers of Germany, France, and Italy and the top diplomat of the EU made a joint call on Saturday for a humanitarian truce in Libya, saying all sides must resume peace talks.

“We call on all the actors in Libya to get inspired by the spirit of the Holy Ramadan, engage in resuming humanitarian talks for a genuine truce,” said the statement, signed by the chief of EU, Joseph Borrel, France’s Jean-Yves Le Drian, Italy’s Luigi di Maio and Heiko Maas of Germany.

Libya’s conflict escalated sharply this month, with fierce fighting on several different fronts in the west of the country despite urgent calls from the UN and aid agencies for a truce to tackle the coronavirus crisis.

World leaders met in Berlin in January to set the basis for what they hoped was a fresh chance for a peace process. But the new wave of fighting has been fuelled by arms imported from abroad, Williams has said.

The European Union has launched a new naval and air mission in the eastern Mediterranean to stop more arms reach warring factions in Libya but cannot patrol the Egypt-Libya land border, through which artillery is still being delivered.

The EU is concerned that could that the conflict could worsen regional instability and swell the flow of migrants from the Middle East and Africa almost a decade after Muammar Gaddafi’s fall in 2011.

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Libya’s truce at risk; Haftar moves around

reporter 1222 — Mon, 27 Jan 2020 13:09:11 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Libya’s forces renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar advance towards the key northern city of Misrata as threats mount against a truce that was brokered between the country’s warring sides earlier this month.

Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) on Sunday began moving from the central city of Sirte towards Misrata, which is loyal to Libya’s United Nations-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) and endangers the truce pact made earlier.

Fighting between the LNA and forces from Misrata was centered on the town of Abugrain, 120 kilometers (74 miles) east of Misrata, the agency cited both sides as saying.

Two LNA fighters were killed and eight were wounded, an LNA source said, adding that the forces later retreated taking some prisoners.

“Battles are raging on all front lines,” LNA spokesman Ahmed Mismari told reporters in the eastern city of Benghazi.

Haftar’s LNA is being backed by the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, while the GNA receives support from Turkey.

Also on Sunday, Tripoli’s Mitiga airport, the capital’s only functioning air terminal, was hit by two rockets, said the UN mission to Libya UNSMIL.

The attack wounded two civilians and damaged the tarmac and buildings at the facility — which is used for the launch of Ankara-supplied combat drones, it added.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, meanwhile, said during a visit to neighboring Algeria that Haftar could not be expected to respect the ceasefire that was brokered by Turkey and Russia in Berlin on January 12.

He also claimed during a press conference with his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune that Ankara was resolutely standing by the Libyan people in their hour of need, Turkey’s state news agency Anadolu reported. ”We are determined to stand by our Libyan brothers,” Erdogan said.

The LNA spokesman, however, blamed Erdogan, who has been dispatching troops to shore up the UN-backed government, for the flare-up.

The UN mission also sounded a note of caution that “over the last 10 days, numerous cargo and other flights have been observed landing at Libyan airports in the western and eastern parts of the country, providing the parties with advanced weapons, armored vehicles, advisers, and fighters.”

Libya has been mired in chaos since a 2011 uprising that was being backed by the Western military alliance of NATO killed longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi.

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