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Since the fall of the ruler Muammar al-Gaddafi in 2011, a civil war has broken out in Libya, now there may finally be peace in the ailing North African country: the two opponents in the civil war agreed to a ceasefire .
The moment will go down in history, said acting UN envoy Stephanie Williams, immediately after the signing of an agreement in Geneva.
The military representatives of Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj and General Khalifa Haftar have been in Switzerland since Monday to prepare political talks on the future of Libya. These talks are scheduled to start in Tunis in November. Five military representatives from each side participated in the Geneva talks. That is why the talks were called 5 + 5. The format was agreed at the Berlin-Libya Conference in January.
Negotiators had already agreed on oil production modalities in recent days to be able to expand production again. There was also an agreement to open roads and air connections between the regions. They also want to take action against people who spread hate speech and fuel conflict on social media.
Williams had condemned the presence of foreign militiamen. “The level of foreign intervention is unacceptable,” he said. “These countries must keep their hands off Libya.” At the beginning of the week, he stressed that foreign fighters would have to leave the country under UN supervision within 90 days as soon as a ceasefire is reached.
The internationally recognized Sarraj government, based in the capital Tripoli, has been fighting for years against Haftar and a counterpart in Tobruk, eastern Libya, for power. There are also conflicts within the respective camps. The conflict is fueled by foreign states that send weapons, mercenaries and other equipment to the country. All international efforts to resolve the conflict so far have been unsuccessful.
General Haftar has the support of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Russia. According to experts, there are currently around 1,400 Russian mercenaries fighting in Libya. The main supporters of the internationally recognized Sarraj government are Qatar, Turkey and Italy.
