The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has warned rival parties in Libya to refrain from any military mobilization that could hinder the North African country’s path to elections in December.
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In a written statement shared on Twitter on Thursday, UNSMIL called on all parties to “refrain from mobilizing or deploying security elements and troops that could be perceived as escalating and could undermine the implementation of the ceasefire agreement on 23 October 2020.. ”
It further called on all parties to respect the boundaries as they were at the time of the ceasefire agreement.
Libya, home to some 7 million people, has since last summer taken preliminary steps towards ending a decade of violent fragmentation that was originally caused by the overthrow of dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.
A UN-mediated ceasefire signed in October between warring eastern and western camps has largely lasted.
Parallel political negotiations have installed a transitional government tasked with leading the country towards national elections set for 24 December.
But despite months of relative peace, Libyans remain at odds over when elections should be held, what elections and on what legal basis.
Libya has been without a constitution since Gaddafi abolished it in 1969.
The 75 delegates selected by the UN to steer the political transition have not yet agreed on a constitutional basis for the December votes.
The same deal reached in October also stipulated that all foreign forces and mercenaries – who support different sides of the conflict – withdraw from Libya within three months, a provision that has not been complied with. The UN has often stated that the presence of mercenaries is a threat to peace and stability in Libya.
At the same time, Russia’s top diplomat assured his Libyan counterpart on Thursday that Moscow supports the withdrawal of all foreign fighters from the North African country and is ready to help bring the details to other countries.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after talks in Moscow with Najla Mangoush that the Libyan leadership “forms an advisory mechanism … to formulate the concrete parameters” under which the foreign forces will leave.
Russia was one of the foreign powers that supported the warring parties in the Libyan conflict, with some officials and media reports claiming that Russian private military contractors took part in the fighting.
“We will be prepared to take a constructive part in this work together with other countries,” Lavrov said at a news conference.
The Libyan Foreign Minister said her government considered the issue of expelling foreign fighters “important” and “priority”, but stressed that it should be done gradually and “in a synchronized manner”.
“That is why it is necessary to develop implementation mechanisms,” Mangoush said. “Such decisions aim to avoid repeating the negative lessons learned from some of our neighbors, to avoid a well-thought-out withdrawal of troops and to avoid slipping into chaos, so that Libya’s national security is not ultimately affected,” he said. she.
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