The advance team for a UN observer mission has arrived in Libya, which after a decade of conflict and chaos plans to hold elections in December, informed sources said on Wednesday.
The group of about ten UN employees flew into the capital Tripoli on Tuesday to monitor a ceasefire between the country’s two rival armed factions.
The unarmed observer team also has the task of verifying the departure of thousands of mercenaries and foreign fighters who have been deployed in the oil-rich North African country and so far have shown no sign of leaving.
A diplomatic source in Tunis said the progress team, which consists of the UN mission in Libya and experts from the UN headquarters in New York, arrived on Tuesday via the neighboring capital, Tunis.
On its five-week mission is to travel to Sirte, a city on the Mediterranean coast halfway between the eastern and western power stations, as well as to Misrata in the west and Benghazi in the east.
A diplomatic source in New York said the team will submit a report to the UN Security Council on March 19 on a ceasefire and the departure of foreign troops.
According to the UN, some 20,000 mercenaries and foreign fighters were still in Libya in early December. A deadline for their withdrawal on January 23, 2021 passed without any sign of them withdrawing.
At the beginning of February, the Security Council ordered UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to deploy a track guard for observers in Libya, following the October 23, 2020 procurement agreement.
In a report at the end of last year, Guterres himself had advocated that an unarmed observer group should consist of civilian and retired military personnel from the member states of the African Union, the European Union and the Arab League.
Earlier last month, Libya embarked on a new phase of the transition from Moammar Gadhafi following the election of an interim leader to lead the country until the December elections, following a decade of chaos.
During the conflict process, foreign mercenaries and weapons have flowed into the country since Putchist General Khalifa Haftar began his offensive focus on the capital Tripoli.
Despite the deadline for the alien of foreign mercenaries from Libya during a ceasefire in October that passed last month, talks continue to accelerate the process as no movement has been announced or observed on the ground.
The Russian Wagner group, owned by businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, a figure close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, is known as one of the main groups sending mercenaries to fight in Libya.
The Wagner Group has helped Russia achieve its military goals in Ukraine, Sudan, Syria and Libya.
In June, the US African Command (AFRICOM) revealed that 2,000 Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group had worked with Haftar forces.
The United Year also imposed sanctions on three individuals and five units linked to the Wagner group, after accusing the mercenary group of laying landmines in and around Libya’s capital Tripoli.
During a telephone conversation on Thursday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Putin that the possibility of peace and stability in Libya should not be wasted.
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