Deal between Libya and UN on withdrawal of mercenaries to restore balance
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Fatima Saif
- . October 9, 2021
- . Update: October 9, 2021 7:06 pm
Libya– Rival sides of Libya reached an initial agreement as foreign fighters and mercenaries from the North African nation withdraw their forces. UN said this is a key step toward unifying the warring sides in violence-wracked country. Since years, there has been a significant presence of mercenaries in the Libyan land that in turn has been an obstacle ahead of Libya’s landmark general elections, which are due in the month of December.
It should be noted that the weapons and mercenaries brought by the foreign powers involved in Libya, included Russia and Turkey. Both the countries remain entrenched on both sides despite the ceasefire and a parallel political process aimed at resolving the decade-long crisis through elections.
An official from Eastern Military asserted in the statement that the joint committee meeting in Geneva had agreed on a “an action plan for the withdrawal of mercenaries and foreign forces in a gradual, balanced and simultaneous way”. The official added that international monitors and a monitoring mechanism were needed before any withdrawal could begin. Libyan Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush clarified that a very modest number of mercenaries had already left.
Linking mercenaries to human war crime, UN stated that all foreign mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group as well as from Syria, Chad and Sudan have been deployed on front lines and investigators are able to link the violence and atrocities on public solely based on loose presence of weapons by the extremist groups.
In the three-day facilitated talks between UN and Libya in Geneva, members from the rival side mentioned that a 10-member joint military commission, with five representatives from each side, inked the final deal on withdrawal of all the mercenaries and extremist underlying groups.
