UN Special Envoy for Libya Jan Kubis said that progress towards a political solution to the North African country’s decadelong conflict had stalled as the Libyan army had accused militias loyal to Putist General Khalifa Haftar of killing one person.
The spokesman for the army unit Sirte-Jufra Joint Operations, General Abdulhadi Dirah, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the 77th Division of the pro-Haftar forces killed Mohammed Juma in Jufra.
The current situation is tense in Jufra, and residents have begun to gather in the city center, he added.
In a separate development, Operation Anger of Volcano, affiliated with the Libyan army, reported an unspecified type of fighter jet and a helicopter flown by Haftar forces was seen in the Jufra sky 600 kilometers (373 miles) southeast of Tripoli.
Recently, sources told the Daily Sabah that the Russian Wagner group made 137 flights, according to air traffic control systems, between October 2020 and April 2021 from Syria to eastern Libya. These are figures determined by basic and official air traffic control systems. In addition to these, it is known that there have also been flights over Egypt that could not be determined because the IFF (Identify Friend Foe) system was shut down, they added.
Meanwhile, Kubis told the UN Security Council on Friday that progress on issues such as the withdrawal of foreign mercenaries and the resumption of the road connecting the country’s east with its west had “stopped”.
Kubis spoke to the council via video and warned that the delays could undermine a ceasefire agreement between the country’s warring sides.
“Progress in important issues such as the resumption of the coastal road between Sirte and Misrata and the beginning of the withdrawal of foreign mercenaries, warriors and foreign forces has stopped,” he said.
“Further delays in resuming road work towards efforts to build trust between the two sides and could undermine efforts to promote the implementation of the ceasefire agreement, to promote the political transition,” he said.
The US Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, also criticized the lack of political progress.
“It is time for the Libyan leadership to clarify the constitutional basis for the elections (scheduled for December 24), adopt the necessary legislation and ensure that the elections are not delayed,” she said, demanding progress before July 1.
Kubis also said that the continued presence of foreign fighters and armed groups “is a significant threat not only to Libya’s security but to the region as a whole.”
He said it was “critical” to ensure “an orderly departure” and disarm them.
The UN support mission in Libya also continues to receive reports on fortifications and defensive positions established along the Sirte-Jufra axis, as well as air force training activities, he said.
Thomas-Greenfield agreed, saying that “external actors involved in the conflict must stop their military involvement and start withdrawing from Libya immediately.”
“There is no room for interpretation here. Everything means everything,” she continued.
The UN estimated in December that there were at least 20,000 foreign fighters and mercenaries in Libya, including Syrians, Russians, Sudanese and Chadians.
Unlike the Russian mercenaries who supported the eastern warlord Haftar, Turkey says that its troops sent to Tripoli were sent under a bilateral agreement with the government.
Fears that armed groups will leave Libya to distribute in the region were raised again by several Security Council members, who recalled the recent destabilization in Chad that led to the assassination of President Idriss Deby Itno.
“We are afraid that the weapons that will be silenced in Libya will return more deafening in the Sahel, which is undergoing its second wave of impact from the Libyan crisis,” said Niger’s UN Ambassador Abdou Abarry.
In mid-April, the Security Council voted to deploy up to 60 international monitors to the UN political mission in Libya to monitor the ceasefire and withdrawal of mercenaries and foreign fighters.
Libya’s Ambassador to the UN, Taher El Sonni, recalled that his country called on all states to “respect” what has been agreed in Security Council resolutions, in particular that all foreign forces and mercenaries withdraw to ensure that the state asserts its sovereignty over its territory. “
Libya has been shattered by chaos since a NATO-backed uprising overthrew long-time dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011 and divided the oil-rich North African country between a UN-backed government in the capital Tripoli and rival authorities based in the country’s east.
In April 2019, Haftar and his forces, with the support of Egypt, France, Russia and the United Arab Emirates, launched an offensive to try to capture Tripoli. His 14-month campaign collapsed after Turkey intensified its support for the UN-backed government.
A ceasefire in October led to the formation of a joint interim government, which took power in March, and has the task of uniting the divided country and governing it through presidential and parliamentary elections on December 24.
Following talks with the Security Council, Kubis visited Turkey on Saturday to discuss recent developments in Libya with Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu in the southern province of Antalya.
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