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The UN mission in Libya said on Saturday that a joint military commission with representatives from the two parties to the country’s conflict will meet this week on Libyan soil.
The talks on November 2-4 will be the first time the teams have met on Libyan territory, UNSMIL said.
“Participants will initiate discussions on the implementation of the ceasefire agreement,” the UN said, referring to an agreement signed Oct. 23 in Geneva.
The talks will take place in Ghadames, a desert oasis about 465 kilometers (290 miles) southwest of the capital Tripoli, near Libya’s borders with Algeria and Tunisia.
Libya has been ravaged by conflict for nearly a decade, since the overthrow and assassination of dictator Moamer Kadhafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011.
Since then it has been dominated by armed groups and divided between two strongly opposed administrations: a UN-recognized Government of National Accord based in the capital, Tripoli, and another in the east backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.
The October 23 agreement saw the two warring factions sign a “permanent” ceasefire agreement aimed at paving the way for a political solution to the country’s conflict.
The military commission is called “5 + 5” because it consists of five officers from each camp.
The talks will be attended by the UN envoy for Libya, Stephanie Williams.
