The commander of the Libyan National Army, Khalifa Haftar, confirmed that he was ready to send his delegates to participate in the meetings of the Joint Military Commission in the “5 + 5” format, which is expected to begin shortly in Geneva. This was announced on Twitter by the UN mission in Libya.

SRSG @GhassanSalame & DSRSG-Political Stephanie Williams met today in Rajma with Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, who confirmed LNA's participation in the Joint Military Commission (5 + 5) talks, expected to start soon in Geneva. They also discussed the Political & Economy tracks. pic.twitter.com/yLMDZWSVH0

- UNSMIL (@UNSMILibya) February 1, 2020

Khalifa Haftar made this statement following negotiations with the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Libya, Hasan Salam, and his Deputy for Political Affairs, Stephanie Williams. The parties also discussed options for possible political and economic interaction.

Chaos and war

After the overthrow and assassination of the leader of the Libyan Jamahiriya Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya for many years plunged into military-political chaos. On the territory of the country, a unified system of government was not created. There are, de facto, two political centers that fight each other.

In the northeast of Libya, in the city of Tobruk, a provisional government is headed by Abdullah at-Thani. He is supported by the Libyan National Army under the command of Marshal Khalifa Haftar.

  • Khalifa Haftar
  • Reuters
  • © Costas Baltas

Tobruk confronts Tripoli, where at one time the Islamic forces fighting against Gaddafi settled. In 2014, an alternative “government of salvation” and the New General National Congress were founded here.

During 2014-2015, Tripoli and Tobruk fought against each other. LNA even managed to occupy the large city of Benghazi as part of this campaign.

In 2015, hostilities were suspended and the country with the help of the United Nations created the Government of National Accord (PNS). The new general national congress joined this body, and entrepreneur Faiz Sarraj was elected chairman of the PNS. At the same time, Tobruk and the LNA refused to recognize the legitimacy of the new authority.

In the spring of 2019, another round of military confrontation started in Libya. The LNA, led by Khalifa Haftar, launched an attack on Tripoli, and the goal of the operation was to release the city from "terrorists." For its part, armed groups based in the west of the country have announced the start of the “Volcano of Wrath” military operation.

However, the LNA managed to gain the upper hand by establishing control over part of Tripoli's districts. The PNS appealed for support to Ankara, the Turkish leadership responded to this call. In November 2019, the government of Sarraj and Ankara signed a memorandum of military cooperation.

According to Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan in January 2020, Ankara’s support for the government of national accord in Libya is aimed at ending the “bloodshed in the country.”

Turkey is not the only country taking part in the fate of Libya today. In early 2020, Russia made efforts to establish a dialogue between the warring parties in Libya.

The Russian leadership invited representatives of the Turkish military leadership, as well as Faiz Sarraj and Khalifa Haftar, to Moscow to participate in the negotiations. LNA commander Khalifa Haftar left Russia without signing a ceasefire agreement with Faiz Sarraj. However, the Libyan marshal subsequently sent a letter to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, in which he thanked him for his efforts to establish peace in Libya.

  • Libyan settlement summit in Berlin.
  • Reuters
  • © Kay Nietfeld / Pool

“I thank you and express full support for the Russian initiative to hold peace talks in Moscow, which should lead to peace in Libya,” the Haftar letter said.

Another attempt to reconcile the warring parties in Libya was made a few days later in Berlin. An international conference on the Libyan settlement was held in the capital of Germany, in which Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, UN Secretary General took part António Guterres, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other top officials.

In the final communiqué, the participants of the event emphasized their commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Libya and called for maintaining the arms embargo against this country. At the same time, the UN plays a key role in resolving the Libyan conflict.

The conference participants agreed on a number of practical steps aimed at resolving the Libyan crisis. So, it was decided to form a Joint Military Commission (HVAC) in the “5 + 5” format, consisting of regular army and police officers under the auspices of the UN. It was clarified that within the framework of the HVAC, specialized working groups will be created that will focus on a number of goals, such as armistice, disarmament, the fight against terrorism and others.

The commission's tasks include disarmament and census of armed groups in the region, as well as the separation of those that can rely on rehabilitation and reform and those that need to be disbanded.

As German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters then, the warring parties in Libya agreed to join the commission.

Insoluble contradictions

The Russian side continues to actively support the settlement process in Libya. On January 31, the parties held telephone conversations between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The leaders discussed the practical implementation of the outcome of the Berlin conference. As the Russian president noted, the decisions made in Berlin must be agreed with the parties to the conflict in Libya.

  • LNA fighters
  • AFP
  • © Abdullah DOMA

“Russia focuses on the fact that both Khalifa Haftar and Faiz Sarraj must take part in the negotiations. Moscow believes that the Libyan crisis can be resolved only through inclusive dialogue without preconditions, ”said Grigory Lukyanov, an expert at the Russian Council on Foreign Affairs.

As the expert recalled, Haftar announced his readiness to send representatives to work with the Joint Military Commission earlier.

According to Lukyanov, the mediation efforts of Moscow, which had previously organized the negotiations of the parties, are yielding results: Khalifa Haftar has already shown that he is ready to participate in the peace process. However, this is not enough to resolve the conflict, the expert said.

“Now the LNA is based on its own military successes, Marshal Haftar is confident that he can negotiate the surrender of Tripoli and the PNS. From the point of view of the Tobruk government, which he represents, now a temporary cabinet should be formed in Libya, but it should not have bright figures from the PNS. For his part, Sarraj does not want to negotiate until the blockade is lifted from Tripoli, ”Lukyanov explained.

The expert is sure that until these contradictions are resolved, the parties will not be able to reach a compromise. A similar point of view is shared by the president of the Institute of Asian and African Countries of Moscow State University, Mikhail Meyer.

“The readiness of Marshal Haftar to send delegates to the Joint Military Commission, of course, can be regarded as an expansion of opportunities for resolving the situation. But for now, there is no need to talk about fast positive progress. It is unlikely that Khalifa Haftar will now abandon his claims to power in Libya, ”the expert concluded.