The 12-point agreement between the Libyan parties for a lasting cease-fire
In the framework of the peace talks between the Libyan warring parties that are taking place on Libyan territory, the 5+5 Joint Military Committee has reached a 12-point agreement on the implementation of a permanent ceasefire in Libya between the Government of National Accord (GNA), led by Fayez Sarraj, and the National Liberation Army (LNA), headed by Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
The military committee meetings in the town of Ghadames in the southwest ended and "agreed on concrete steps to be taken to implement the permanent ceasefire agreement," according to a statement from the UN Libya Support mission (UNSMIL).
This week, the United Nations made official the return of the Libyan talks to national territory, in the city of Ghadames. A village located some 465 kilometres southwest of Tripoli, far from the power bases of both sides.
A military subcommittee was created to oversee "the return of military forces to their headquarters and the withdrawal of foreign elements from military lines of contact."
In addition, the 5+5 committee has agreed to meet in Sirte, a city which has been the scene of major clashes between the parties and which has large oil fields, as soon as possible at the end of this month.
The items agreed include the guards of oil facilities, the exchange of detainees between the parties - although no further details were given on a prisoner exchange - and the creation of technical teams for clearing mines, necessary arrangements at airports and fighting hate speech.
In a statement, UNSMIL urged the UN Security Council to quickly adopt a binding resolution on the implementation of the cease-fire agreement provisions signed on Oct. 23 in Geneva.
Present at Monday's meeting were representatives of the 5+5 Joint Military Committee and Acting Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Libya Stephanie Williams. "This round of talks comes after the signing of a ceasefire agreement by both delegations on 23 October in Geneva. Participants will initiate discussions on the implementation of the ceasefire agreement, including through the establishment of sub-committees, as well as on a monitoring and verification mechanism," the UN mission to Libya (UNSMIL) explained in a statement on Sunday.
"The aim is to consolidate the ceasefire and make progress in setting up various committees to speed up the agreements" with a view to the larger meeting scheduled for November 9 in Tunisia, according to UN sources consulted by the EFE news agency.
"The idea is to stabilise the country in order to relaunch a political process that will enable elections to be held and a new unity government to be formed", an Arab diplomat who is taking part in the current peace effort told Efe.
The visits of Libyan officials from the Government of National Accord and prominent leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood in Libya to Doha once again highlighted Qatar's role in Libya, amid serious concerns about the reasons for these visits at a time when the pace of political and military dialogues between the Libyan parties in search of a political agreement was accelerating.
These visits revealed the weakness and laziness of the counter-intelligence in monitoring Qatar's movements and thwarting its plans to penetrate deeply into Libyan reality in order to evade the political path.
In an interview with the Qatar News Agency (QNA) on the occasion of his visit to Doha, the head of Libya's High Council of State Khalid al-Mishri said Qatar is a strategic ally of his country and has played a great role at all regional and international levels to stop the fighting in Libya and support the internationally-recognized legitimate authority.
“Qatar and Turkey were the only countries to stand by Libya in its crisis, especially when Haftar’s forces were on the outskirts of Tripoli,” he said, stressing the importance of continuous communication between brothers and friends in the current stage in particular, indicating that his visit to Qatar was preceded by visits by the Libyan Foreign and Interior Ministers, and that the Libyan Defense Minister will visit Doha next week.
A few days ago, both countries signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at strengthening co-operation against terrorism and organised crime, according to the Qatari media.
Since a NATO-backed uprising defeated Libyan leader Muammar al-Qadhafi, Libya has been shaken by violence. Since then, the country has been dominated by armed groups, divided by local conflicts between two sides: the UN-run Tripoli Government of National Accord (GNA), supported by Turkey, led by Prime Minister Sarraj, and a rival administration in the east of the Haftar-affiliated nation, backed by Egypt, Russia and the United Arab Emirates.
Ankara has been deeply involved in Libya's civil war since the pact signed at the end of 2019 with Mr Sarraj's government to secure Turkish military support and distribute economic areas in the Mediterranean for the exploitation of hydrocarbon reserves.