Se retoma el calendario de conversaciones para resolver el conflicto en Libia

The news of the resumption of the Libyan peace process talks brings relief to the international community. The United Nations has announced the resumption of political talks between the warring parties to the Libyan conflict on 26 October by videoconference.

The Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) will be conducted through a series of online sessions that will continue with face-to-face meetings, in principle in November, depending on the evolution of the pandemic, as announced this Saturday evening by the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) in a statement.

"The overall objective of the LPDF will be to build consensus on a unified governance framework and arrangements leading to the holding of national elections in the shortest possible time in order to restore Libya's sovereignty and the democratic legitimacy of Libyan institutions," UN Libya Envoy Stephanie Williams said in the statement.

It should be recalled that face-to-face talks between the delegations of a joint military commission made up of five officers from each side will be held in Geneva from 19 October.

The Libyan country has been divided since the 2011 Arab Spring riots. After the death of Muammar al-Qadhafi, nine years of conflict and divisions have left the Libyan population on edge. The energy, economic and health crises are weighing on citizens who have been demonstrating in the streets against the two governments since August.

Libya currently has two governments: the GNA, led by Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj, and the eastern parliament of Tobruk, created in 2014 and associated with the Libyan National Army (LNA) commanded by Marshal Khalifa Haftar.

At the beginning of September both reached an agreement on the need to reach "major commitments" to end the conflict in Libya, as they announced after the first contact in Bouznika, Morocco. 

At the moment there are three negotiation routes open in three different locations: in Geneva, where negotiations began in February to establish the first steps to be taken. In Morocco, Bouznika, political and structural peace pacts are being discussed. And in Egypt, Hurgada, where the steps to be taken towards a ceasefire and the agreement on military and security restructuring are being discussed.

In Bouznika, it was welcomed that the delegations from Libya's High Council of State and the Parliament in Tobruk reached a comprehensive agreement on transparent and objective criteria and mechanisms for taking up sovereign positions. These include key positions such as those of the Central Bank, the head of the Anti-Corruption Commission, the Chairman of the High Electoral Commission, the Prosecutor General and the Chairman of the Judicial Council.

The UN special mission in Libya (UNSMIL) noted that Hurgada's talks between military representatives from both sides reached important recommendations on the release of detainees, as well as the reopening of airspace and land routes for the release of prisoners. The final rumours indicate that there could be a final merger between the opposing armies to achieve a unity that would set an example to Libyan citizens.

The civil war has been raging in the North African country since 2014 and has become an international war scenario involving different foreign powers with different interests on the ground. Haftar's LNA is supported by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Russia and France, while the GNA receives military support from Turkey and financial support from Qatar, and has been recognised by the United Nations (UN) since 2016.