• Libya, al-Sisi: ceasefire from Monday, okay in Haftar
  • Libya, a new phase opens after the siege on Tripoli
  • Libya one step away from the reopening of the negotiations

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07 June 2020GNA militias are regaining control of Sirte, whose port, 450 kilometers east of Tripoli, is strategic for the country's oil industry. The army of Cyrenaica, Lna, after suddenly demobilizing the siege on the capital, just as quickly withdrew from the positions conquered in January, when Haftar announced the imminent, definitive fall of the opponent.

Together with the entire Tripolitania, therefore, crucial junctions are being brought back under Al Serraji's control to restart the production and export of gas and oil. Wells, oil pipelines and oil terminals have been paralyzed for five months, with damage to the Libyan economy which the National Oil Corporation of Tripoli estimates at over $ 5 billion.

Turkey's entry into the conflict has allowed Tripoli to regain strength on the ground, but it is not yet clear whether Haftar is definitively en route, as Al Serraji maintains, or if instead he withdraws to favor peace negotiations, as the spokesman of 'Lna, Al Mismari.

It is a fact that the negotiations started after the Moscow truce and the Berlin Conference in January had failed precisely because the GNA made it a condition that the Cyrenaica army withdraw from all of Tripolitania. And it is also true that diplomatic contacts between the countries most affected by the Libyan crisis, as well as pressure on Haftar and Al Serraji to lay down arms and start dialogue, have been frantic in recent weeks. After all, there had already been a signal on Tuesday, with the official approval of Tripoli and Benghazi for the resumption of talks in the "technical" commissions, set up after Berlin to discuss the country's future military, economic and political structures.

The truce proposal launched yesterday by Egypt seems to be the last piece of an international strategy that aims at the definitive solution of the conflict.

It is no coincidence that Egyptian President Al Sisi yesterday announced his road map for peace after meeting Haftar, who immediately joined. The hypothesis foresees a truce starting from 6 tomorrow, with the immediate withdrawal of all foreign forces and the political, economic and military collaboration between the two factions. This would be the first step to start the reconstruction of a unified Libya, calling the Libyans to the polls, under UN supervision, to elect a presidential council that equally represents Tripolitania, Fezzan and Cyrenaica.

Aquila Saleh, president of Tobruk parliament, has already said yes. But the head of the Libyan High Council of State Khalid al-Mishri rejects the Egyptian plan: "Haftar just has to surrender and be tried for his crimes," he says. And the Libyan army spokesman Mohammed Gununu declares that the advance of Tripoli does not stop: "We did not start the war, but we will end it." Turkey, with the Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hami Aksoy, says it will continue to support Al Serraji "in compliance with the UN resolutions", which however are exactly the same as those referred to by Al Sisi's proposal.

The United States Embassy in Tripoli, in a tweet, "Welcomes the Egyptian effort and asks all sides to join the ceasefire and return to political negotiations coordinated by the United Nations." Russia, too, with the deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, the Egyptian initiative defines "solid basis for a serious political process." Praise for the Cairo plan comes from the UAE, strong allies of Haftar, and Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Jordan.

Egypt in these hours are pressing Europe and the United Nations to persuade Erdogan to withdraw his troops and promote a path of peace Cairo has repeatedly underlined, loudly, that he considers the presence of foreign forces in Libya "a threat to his own security" national "and for months it has deployed part of its vast military apparatus along its western borders.

It will be clear only in the next few hours if the Cairo peace initiative is isolated and arrives outside the maximum time, or s and is part of an international diplomatic plan that is truly capable of initiating a peaceful solution to the conflict.