Rival Libyan groups urge UN Security Council to back ‘historic’ ceasefire

LIBYA’S rival groups ended military talks with a call to the UN Security Council to adopt a binding resolution to implement a ceasefire deal drawn up last month, the UN said.

The two-day talks in the town of Ghadames, which concluded late on Tuesday, were the first face-to-face negotiations inside Libya since last year’s attack on the capital by forces loyal to the east-based military commander Khalifa Hifter.

The two sides agreed to meet again in the contested coastal city of Sirte some time this month, and to form a sub-committee to oversee the return of all Libyan forces to their camps, as mentioned in the October 23 ceasefire reached in Geneva, the UN support mission in Libya said.

“This is the beginning of a process that is going to require determination, courage, confidence and a lot of work,” said the chief of the support mission, Stephanie Williams, who headed the Ghadames talks.

She said they had discussed a monitoring mechanism to implement the ceasefire agreement, which included the departure of foreign forces and mercenaries within three months.

The agreement also called for “military deals on training inside Libya” to be frozen and for foreign trainees to leave the country. It did not name a particular country but apparently referred to Turkey, which has sent forces and mercenaries to train and fight alongside troops loyal to the Un-supported government in the west.

Libya was plunged into chaos after the 2011 Nato-backed uprising that toppled and killed long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

The oil-rich country is split between a Un-supported government in the capital, Tripoli, and rival authorities based in the east..

The two sides urged the Security Council to urgently adopt a resolution on the implementation of the ceasefire, which the UN mission has billed as historic. And Ms Williams called on countries that have mercenaries and foreign fighters in Libya to “respect the Libyan request” to withdraw them.

Thousands of foreign fighters, including Russians, Syrians, Sudanese and Chadians, have been taken to Libya by both sides, according to UN experts.

Ms Williams said oil production had been resumed after the monthslong closure of oil fields and terminals by tribes loyal to Hifter.