Libya’s Tripoli – based parliament on Wednesday stated that the province where confidence in the newly elected government of national unity (GNU) under Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah will be kept must get rid of mercenaries and foreign forces.
Parliament’s statement comes after the UN mandate in Libya proposed that the vote be held in the coastal province of Sirte. Similarly, Aquila Saleh, Speaker of the Tobruk-based parliament, last week called on the Assembly to meet in Sirte on March 8 to vote on the new unity government.
“We hope that the results of the LPDF (Libya’s Political Dialogue Forum) will help unite state institutions and achieve national reconciliation and social justice, including the return of internally displaced persons (internally displaced persons) and bringing those responsible for mass graves and other crimes to justice.” Tripoli parliament sa.
It further expressed readiness to hold the session to unite Tripoli and the Tobruk parliaments.
On the other hand, Parliament also called on the UN Security Council to publish the expert panel’s report on bribery allegations against LPDF members alleging that at least three participants were bribed to vote for Dbeibah.
According to a report by Agence France-Presse (AFP), UN experts found that two participants “during the talks in Tunisia” offered bribes of between $ 150,000 and $ 200,000 to at least three LPDF participants if they undertook to vote for Dbeibah as prime minister. . “
In response, Dbeibah dismissed the allegations as “false news”.
The latest allegations came after several Libyan organizations in November demanded an investigation into allegations of corruption due to the election of future officials.
Earlier, General Ahmad Abu Shahma, head of the Libyan government’s military committee and member of the 5 + 5 Joint Military Commission, similarly stated that the committee agreed to withdraw foreign forces from Sirte, where deputies are expected to meet.
The deadline for the alien of foreign mercenaries from Libya during a ceasefire in October passed from January but mercenaries remain in Libya as no movement has been announced or observed on the ground.
Under an agreement reached on October 23, Libya’s rivals – the UN-recognized National Agreement (GNA) government in the Libyan capital Tripoli and the East-based Putist general Khalifa Haftar – reached a nationwide permanent ceasefire in Geneva, including a three-month withdrawal deadline. of foreign troops and mercenaries.
Foreign mercenaries and weapons have flowed into the country since Haftar began its offensive, with Russia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) serving as the putschist general’s best suppliers. According to the UN, there are currently 20,000 foreign forces and / or mercenaries in Libya.
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.
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.
The UN sends monitoring missions
The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) announced on Thursday that a small advance team was sent to Libya earlier on Wednesday.
The Advance Team will help promote UN planning in close consultation with the 5 + 5 Joint Military Commission and provide the basis for scalable UN support for the Libya-led and Libya-owned ceasefire monitoring mechanism (LCMM). The team will also to prepare efforts for the report requested by the Security Council, “it said in a written statement.
In a December report, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recommended deploying a mission to Libya, while the Security Council made a similar request on 4 February.
Guterres had said an advanced team would be sent to Tripoli as a first step to “create the basis for a scalable UN surveillance mechanism based in Sirte.”
He indicated that the monitor “would initially monitor and report compliance along the coastal road on the removal of military forces and mercenaries, the deployment of the joint police force and the clearing of explosive remnants of wars, traps and mines.”
UNSMIL stated that the advance will report its results to the special envoy.
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