Libyan 5+5 military committee meets in Benghazi to discuss army unification
The 5+5 Joint Military Committee, which brings together opposing powers, held its first meeting of the Security Working Group in Benghazi (east) on Tuesday with the aim of unifying the military institution and eliminating foreign forces and fighters, as well as mercenaries.
"This meeting is a continuation of our efforts to consolidate peace in Libya and support the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and the reunification of the military and security institutions. Security is essential to enable elections," welcomed the envoy of the UN Special Mission to Libya (UNSMIL), Abdoulaye Bathily.
The meeting, co-chaired this month by the Italian embassy, was attended by diplomatic representatives from the European Union, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, among others, as well as officials from international organisations.
The committee, explained the Mission's representative, has managed to implement numerous recommendations such as involving military and security leaders, the release of detainees and the creation of a disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) committee to catalogue the armed formations.
At the same time, so-called "liaison committees" have been activated to facilitate the "coordinated and systematic" withdrawal of mercenaries and foreign fighters, for which a common database is being worked on, although the conflict in neighbouring Sudan "has slowed their progress", Bathily said.
However, UNSMIL lamented that the efforts of the 6+6 Committee - made up of members of parliament (east) and the High Council of State (west) - are not sufficient to hold elections as its draft electoral laws need to be "refined" to avoid the legal and technical loopholes identified by the National High Electoral Commission.
Among the challenges facing the Maghreb country, he stressed, are ensuring a secure environment for elections, protecting human rights, promoting national reconciliation and transitional justice as well as addressing problems related to armed groups.
A week earlier, the working group - an outgrowth of the Berlin Process, launched in 2020 by Germany and UNSMIL - met in the French capital and was attended by the Chiefs of Defence Staff of the Government of National Unity (west), Mohamed al-Haddad, and of the so-called Libyan National Army (east), Abdulrazaq al-Naduri.
During this ceremony, French President Emmanuel Macron presented its members with the medal of the Legion of Honour of the French Republic - considered the highest decoration - for their role during the ceasefire agreement.
Currently, two parallel administrations are sharing power in Libya: the Government of National Unity (GNU) of Abdelhamid Dbeiba, based in Tripoli; and a parallel executive in Sirte, unilaterally appointed by parliament in February 2022 and led by Osama Hammad, appointed last week to replace Fathi Bashaga.
After more than twelve years of transition, stalled time and again by political divisions and conflict, Libya has so far failed to hold presidential elections, which were suspended indefinitely at the end of 2021.
