Ghassan Salama, the United Nations envoy to Libya announced yesterday that representatives of the parties to the conflict in Libya meeting in Geneva agreed to the principle of transforming the armistice into a permanent ceasefire, and he said that there is a real will to start negotiations between the government of Tripoli and the Libyan National Army, coinciding with the beginning of Talks in Geneva aimed at achieving a permanent ceasefire in the country.
The Geneva talks include five senior soldiers from the Libyan National Army, five from the forces allied with the Tripoli government, and fighting continued on the ground, despite the call for an armistice and an international summit on Libya held in Berlin on January 19.
Salameh denounced the presence of more than 20 million weapons in Libya, and said that he asked the UN Security Council to pass a resolution that reaffirms the existing arms embargo, and approves measures to ensure adherence to it.
He continued: «The talks between the two parties who did not meet face to face in Geneva aim to bridge the gaps in views on how to organize a sustainable permanent ceasefire on the ground».
He added, "We started with them by examining a long list of points on our agenda, starting with working to transform the armistice into a more coherent one, and reduce violations of it, and also convert that armistice into a real agreement on a permanent ceasefire."
The UN envoy requests the Security Council to pass a resolution to affirm the arms embargo.