The five + five Libyan mixed military commission ended its meeting on Thursday, November 12, the second in Libya since the ceasefire agreement was signed in Geneva on October 23, 2020. Everyone agreed to leave mercenaries and foreign fighters from January 23, 2021. It was a UN official Libya (Manul) support mission which announced this at the end of the meeting.
According to the agreement between the two parties that will meet in Sirte between 10 and 12 November, the mercenaries should, as a first step, withdraw from the entire Sirte area. After regrouping in Tripoli and Benghazi, they would then leave Libyan territory. The coastal city of Sirte was proposed as the country’s administrative capital during the transition period.
Open the coastal road
It was also decided during this meeting to “secure” and immediately open the coastal road in Libya, a road that connects the country from the Tunisian border to the Egyptian border via Tripoli and Benghazi. This road had been closed for several years, its reopening should allow, according to Manul, “citizens’ circulation”.
The Sirte meeting follows the Ghadames talks in early November to speed up the implementation of the ceasefire agreement in October last year.
During this first meeting, the two parties agreed to form two monitoring committees: a security and a military. The first to oversee the withdrawal of Libyan warriors from the Sirte area and the return to their bases; the other overseeing the withdrawal of foreign mercenaries.
Warm welcome
These advances on paper are warmly welcomed by the Libyans. However, given the complexity of the field and the persistence of foreign interventions, several analysts are reluctant about the feasibility of its withdrawals, especially those for foreign mercenaries.
In addition to the meetings of the Joint Military Commission, 75 Libyan representatives have been meeting in Tunis under the auspices of the UN since Monday with the aim of getting Libya out of the conflicts in which the country has been overthrown since 2011. The participants reached an agreement to hold elections within eighteen months.
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