Mercenaries to leave under ceasefire deal
The rival sides in Libya’s conflict have signed a permanent ceasefire, a deal the United Nations is billing as historic after years of fighting that has split the country in two.
The breakthrough sets the stage for political talks in November to find a lasting solution to the chaos unleashed after a 2011 Nato-backed uprising toppled and killed Libya’s longtime dictator, Muammar Gaddafi.
Previous diplomatic initiatives to end the conflict have repeatedly collapsed, but the UNbrokered deal signed in Geneva yesterday aims to cement a months-long lull in the fighting and boost the political process.
It is not clear how the ceasefire will be enforced, given the patchwork of militias in Libya.
Stephanie Turco Williams, the top UN envoy for Libya, who led mediation talks this week, said armed groups and military units had agreed to return ‘‘ to their camps’’, and that the deal would take effect immediately.
Foreign mercenaries would leave within three months, she added, referring to the thousands of Syrian fighters deployed by Turkey and Russia on opposite sides of the war.
The agreement also involves the formation of a joint military force and a way to monitor violations.
Following Libya’s descent into chaos, a UN-recognised government holds sway in the capital, Tripoli, in western Libya, while the forces of military commander Khalifa Hifter run most of the east and south.
Turkey is the main patron of the Tripoli government, while the United Arab Emirates, Russia and Egypt back Hifter. Both sides are also supported by an array of fractious militias, though the administrations often struggle to control them.
Fighting came to a halt in June, when Hifter’s 14-month campaign to capture Tripoli collapsed. International pressure has also been building to avert a battle over the strategic city of Sirte, the gateway to Libya’s major oil export terminals.