The United Nations, the European Union, the Arab League and the African Union on Tuesday demanded that all foreign forces and mercenaries leave Libya immediately, as the country seeks to restore order and go to the polls.
In a statement following a video conference by its leaders, the so-called “Libya Quartet” demanded “full compliance with the arms embargo and the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all foreign forces and mercenaries from all of Libya’s territory.”
The highly violated arms embargo has existed since 2011 when an uprising overthrew the long-running Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi during the regional upheaval known as the Arab Spring.
The UN estimates that some 20,000 foreign fighters, mainly troops from Turkey and mercenaries from Russia, Syria, Chad and Sudan, are currently deployed in the country.
In 2019, Ankara and the Tripoli-based internationally recognized Libyan government for national agreement (GNA) reached two separate consensus agreements, one on military cooperation and one on maritime borders for countries in the eastern Mediterranean.
In January 2020, Turkey began deploying troops to Libya after Parliament approved a proposal in response to Libya’s call for Turkish troops.
The GNA had made a formal request for “air, land and sea” support from the Turkish military to help ward off an offensive by forces loyal to Putist general Khalifa Haftar, who was trying to take control of the capital Tripoli.
The Turkish military has also helped restructure the Libyan army into a regular army based on the model used to train the Azerbaijani army.
In recent weeks, the possible departure of the Syrian mercenary has increased, and this weekend N’Djamena mentioned the arrival of several hundred Chadian mercenaries from Libya who may have contributed to the fighting that led to the killing of President Idriss Deby Itno.
Foreign mercenaries and weapons have flowed into the country since Haftar began its offensive, with Russia and the United Arab Emirates (United Arab Emirates) serving as the putschist general’s best suppliers. According to the UN, there are currently 20,000 foreign forces and / or mercenaries left in Libya.
The Russian Wagner group, owned by businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, a person close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, is known as one of the main groups that sent mercenaries to fight in Libya.
Most foreign forces are concentrated around Sirte at the Jufra air base held by Haftar’s forces 500 kilometers south of Tripoli and further west in al-Watiya.
In June, the US African Command (AFRICOM) revealed that 2,000 Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group had worked with Haftar forces.
A UN report on Sudan released in January 2020 also said that many Arabs from the war-weary region of Darfur were fighting as “individual mercenaries” along with warring Libyan parties.
At its meeting, the Libyan Quartet condemned “the continuing violations of the UN arms embargo and stressed that any external military intervention in Libya is unacceptable.”
It also called for “a long-term implementation of measures to fully identify and remove these groups.”
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