In Libya, the release, on Wednesday 31 March, was welcomed by more than a hundred prisoners held since the beginning of Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s abortive offensive to take the capital in 2019, locally and by the UN.
It was on the initiative of a local dialogue group that these prisoners of war were released on Wednesday, March 31. All dressed in white in traditional Libyan clothes. They were greeted by the “family” ululations. The ceremony, which took place in the town of Zawiya, 70 km from Tripoli, in western Libya, was surrounded by an important security device. The gesture is seen as a first step towards the expected national reconciliation. Calls have been made to release all prisoners.
Very young people
The released prisoners are all very young, inexperienced people. They started the war and belonged to Brigade 107 of the Libyan National Army under the command of Khalifa Haftar while they are all from western Libya. Mainly from two cities: Sabrata and Sorman.
During his speech, the president of the presidency, Mohamed al-Manfi, called for “moving forward to rebuild the country”. For him, national reconciliation is at the top of the presidency’s priorities. It is “the cornerstone of building a civilian and united state,” he said. Its vice president, Moussa al-Koni, called on other cities to follow Zawiya’s example by releasing prisoners from the past two years.
According to Geneva’s political agreement signed in the autumn, all prisoners of war should be released. By January 2021, the two competing camps had carried out an initial exchange of prisoners in accordance with the ceasefire agreement.
Restart of military cooperation between France and Libya
Following the resumption of the French embassy on Monday in Tripoli, a meeting took place this Thursday, April 1, at the Boucetta military base in Tripoli between the French military attaché, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Billard and the Libyan general Mohamed al-Haddad. Military coordination between the two countries was discussed. There was also talk of resuming the agreement previously signed between the two parties to train Libyan soldiers.
